Ahead of their Premier League clash on at the Etihad on Sunday, Manchester United boss, Jose Mourinho has aimed a dig in the direction of his Manchester City counterpart, Pep Guardiola.
Mourinho emphasised on City’s policy, especially when the club signed four full-backs last season to become the side with the most expensive defence line in the world.
Guardiola’s team have come under fire during the week after the leaked data exposing their approach to avoiding Financial Fair Play.
While former Chelsea boss would not directly comment on the row, he took aim at City’s recruitment policy and moaned at their superior resources in the transfer market
“I am clearly rebuilding,” he told reporters during press conference ahead of the Manchester derby.
“In my first season, I got into a situation where there were players like Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick – phenomenal players and some of the most important players in the past years of the club – coming to the end.
“We had to get a player like Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] to help us to have a certain power to fight for something important, which was clearly to get back to the Champions League level.
“But it’s been hard work, really hard work, with people like Luke Shaw and Tony Martial, for example.
“Because for talented players like them to get to the level they are now is a process.
“To transform talent in professional players into stability and performance is a process of hard work. So is it rebuilding? Yes.
“If I need a full-back and I was able to buy four, it would be easier. So, when I needed a full-back, when I wasn’t happy with Luke Shaw’s level, the easiest thing would have been to buy four new players.
“Some clubs can buy four full-backs. But we didn’t buy a left-back for three years because we were wishing and working for Luke Shaw to be that left-back.
“But during that process, we played Matteo Darmian, we played Daley Blind, we played Ashley Young, we played Marcos Rojo.
“We didn’t buy four replacements – and that is a big difference. It takes less time when you buy four full-backs.
“To buy four, you need good scouting – and you need money. But to make players well that takes more time.”
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