Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is rumoured to be plotting a shocking sweep for Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater in January. The Portuguese manager is considering to bolster his options when the transfer window reopens and the 26-year-old is believed to be on his wishlist. Mourinho believes Drinkwater’s presence in the United midfield could improve the defensive stability of the team and also would allow more freedom for world record signing Paul Pogba.
However, luring the England international away from the King Power Stadium will be a hard task as he recently signed a contract extension with Leicester worth £90k-a-week and the deal expires only in the summer of 2021. With the Foxes having qualified for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions League, Mourinho’s pursuit of Drinkwater’s signature would be even tougher.
The Manchester-born midfielder learned his trade in the club’s youth academy and played for the Red Devils’ U-18s and reserve team but, he couldn’t break into the senior team and after loan spells with Huddersfield, Cardiff, Watford and Barnsley, he was allowed to join Leicester in 2012.
The midfielder’s rise from a youngster who was allowed to leave Old Trafford to a Premier League winner with Leicester has been incredible. The 26-year-old along with N’Golo Kante formed the formidable central midfield of Claudio Ranieri’s title-winning side last season as he made 35 appearances scoring two goals.
United spent around £150m in the summer bringing in Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly and the Manchester club is set to continue their spending spree in January. They are weighing up a £30m bid for Drinkwater and a colossal £150,000-a-week wage package on the table for the England international. Should the deal materialise, it would mean that United would have spent £119m on two players, Pogba and Drinkwater, whom they let go for almost nothing in terms of transfer fee.
Mourinho’s side recently suffered a fourth consecutive home draw as a resilient West Ham United team held them to a 1-1 draw and are currently enduring their worst start to a Premier league campaign. Their next two games in the league are against Everton and Spurs and if they fail to pick up six points, it might as well be all over for United in the title race even before Christmas.
With the club currently 11 points adrift of the summit of the league and 8 points behind Arsenal, who occupy the 4th spot, new arrivals at Old Trafford in January looks inevitable. The 20-team league champions have been recently linked with a host of stars suggesting the next transfer window might be a busy one for them.
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