Mourinho: Man United will sign a marquee player next season
Jose Mourinho lifted the lid on his transfer plans as Manchester United prepare to face Southampton on Saturday.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho revealed the club will "pay a lot of money for one player" next season amid strong links with Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann.
Mourinho has complained about not being able to compete with free-spending neighbours and runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City in the transfer market as United languish 15 points off the pace.
The disgruntled Portuguese has urged patience with United's balanced approach, though he is determined to spend more following the arrivals of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic since replacing Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford in May 2016.
And Griezmann – who resisted a move to United before the start of the season – could be high on Mourinho's list after the Red Devils boss lifted the lid on his transfer plans.
"I think, next season, we are going to get two or three more players," said Mourinho, who played down talk of doing business in January following speculation over Bordeaux's Brazilian playmaker Malcom.
"We are going to lose also two or three. If you can try to anticipate, you can more or less see that it's normal that this is going to happen. It's not going to happen - a dramatic change and a dramatic improvement - but in time, step by step, with some balance, we have to do it.
"My club, two years ago, paid a lot of money for Paul. Last year, they paid a lot of money for Lukaku and I'm sure, next year, they are also going to pay a lot of money for one player.
"But we are doing these things with some balance because it's the profile of the club. We do it with some balance."
United – second in the table – welcome Southampton to the Theatre of Dreams following back-to-back Premier League draws.