Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward inhibiting Jose Mourinho's pursuit of Danny Rose
Woodward has reportedly informed Mourinho that players would have to be sold for Rose to be signed this month.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is reportedly disgruntled with chief executive Ed Woodward's reluctance to sanction a move for Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose in the January transfer window after making his desire to bolster his ranks during the winter market abundantly clear in recent weeks.
United have been linked with a move for Rose since the summer after the England international spoke of his willingness to leave north London in order to improve his chances of winning silverware. The left-back position has long been a problem at Old Trafford, though Luke Shaw has performed encouragingly since being welcomed back into the first-team set-up by Mourinho.
Despite Shaw's apparent resurgence, United boss Mourinho is still intent on recruiting Tottenham's Rose, valued at around £50m ($67.5m), but Woodward is apparently trying to dissuade the Portuguese and is putting forward other potential and less expensive candidates for the role, according to The Mirror.
United have spent around £300m during Mourinho's reign, but the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss recently called on the club's board spend more if they want to have any chance of catching Manchester City in the near future. Pep Guardiola's side already boast a virtually unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League, but their remarkable assault has not quenched Mourinho's thirst for immediate improvement.
The signing of Rose, who has developed into one of Europe's best left-backs under Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, would go some way to closing the gap between United and City, but Woodward has allegedly informed Mourinho that the prospective acquisition of Rose can only materialise in January if players are sold first, otherwise any move for the former Sunderland loanee will have to wait until this summer.
A potential alternative to Rose, who is currently sidelined after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury that kept him out for nine months, would be Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon.
Both United and Tottenham have been pursuing the precocious 17-year-old for a number of months, with recent reports claiming that the Old Trafford hierarchy are willing to thrash out a £25m deal and loan him back to the Whites for the remainder of the campaign, but Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic has stressed that the west London outfit are not planning on selling the left-back this month.
