Creating Jose Mourinho’s 2016 Summer Blueprint for Manchester United

Jose Mourinho is the first of Manchester United’s post-Sir Alex Ferguson managers to take up the role at the beginning of a summer break.

Louis van Gaal had to attend to the Netherlands national team as they fought their way to third place in the 2014 World Cup. David Moyes started on 1 July, 2013, having taken a break between the end of his final season at Everton and the start of his United tenure. In retrospect, that was probably not a great decision.

Mourinho, of course, did not need a break, having been out of football since Chelsea sacked him in December 2015. At the end of a few months off, he is presumably raring to go.

So what should be on his agenda in an offseason packed with international football tournaments and a pre-season tour of China as he looks to ready the Red Devils’ resurgence?

Here’s a blueprint for a successful summer for the Special One.

 

Get the Transfers Right

This is easier said than done.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks to be on his way, per Andy Burton of Sky Sports News HQ, which would seem a good start. He would provide support in an area United badly need to improve.

Elsewhere, Ed Aarons of the Guardian is among those who have linked Eric Bailly—a promising, versatile centre-back—with a move to Old Trafford. It is early days yet, but it looks as though there is a plan in place to fill the gaps in United’s squad. It would seem a sensible one, blending immediacy with a longer-term outlook.

Manchester United on the brink of signing Villarreal defender Eric Bailly for €40m according to reports #MUFC pic.twitter.com/uctQPxKRLY

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) June 4, 2016

There will also have to be some outgoings. Juan Mata failed to convince Jose Mourinho of his worth to the Chelsea squad, which is what led to his move to United in January 2014. Presumably, he may be at risk of meeting a similar fate again. Squad players such as Marouane Fellaini, Phil Jones and Ashley Young could be upgraded upon.

There may even be other, more surprising departures—few would have predicted Mourinho would have sidelined Mata the way that he did given the Spain international had been Chelsea’s player of the season for two season in a row before the Portuguese’s return to Stamford Bridge in 2013.

David Moyes struggled in his first window, not helped by his late start or the inexperience of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who had just taken over transfer dealings from the departing David Gill. Only Fellaini arrived to bolster the first-team squad in what was a pretty calamitous summer.

Van Gaal’s first window saw six arrivals, including the high-profile signing of Angel Di Maria. It was an exciting time, but in hindsight, the scatter-gun approach did United few favours. His second summer was about departures, with too many attacking players leaving and not enough arriving.

There were successes in the Van Gaal era, certainly, but it is hard to argue the squad-building strategy was truly effective given United laboured to a fifth-place finish last season.

Mourinho has to get his incomings and outgoings right.

 

Make a Plan for Wayne Rooney

If Wayne Rooney were a poker hand, then both Moyes and Van Gaal would clearly have been prepared to stake all their chips on it.

Moyes was in charge when the then-28-year-old Rooney signed a lucrative five-year contract. Van Gaal made him captain and invested in that role the right to an automatic starting berth regardless of form.

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