Friday 1 September 2017 16:41, UK
Jose Mourinho was the key to Manchester United's impressive performance in the transfer window, according to Gary Neville.
Despite stating he was after four new players this summer, Mourinho still managed to add defender Victor Lindelof, striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Nemanja Matic to strengthen a squad that only finished sixth in the Premier League last season.
Those signings should leave the Portuguese manager in good spirits as he looks to end the club's five-year wait for the title this season, says the former United and England defender.
"I think he will be satisfied," Neville told Sky Sports News. "He was very clear from the beginning he wanted four.
"Jose is usually outstanding in the transfer market and he has proven it again - to get Matic. Even Lukaku when he signed, it was on the edge of too much money, but when you look back now it looks like a good deal.
"They needed a centre back and they got Victor Lindelof, they have got Zlatan Ibrahimovic back."
Mourinho also targeted the addition of a winger, with Inter Milan's Ivan Persic his preferred choice, only for the Serie A club to refuse to sell the Croatia international.
However, the 'Special One' will recognise - especially when comparing how his rivals performed this summer - that the club cannot always succeed with all his transfer requests, says Neville.
"He wanted a wide player in Ivan Perisic and he has not got it," he said. "But he understands ultimately that you cannot get everybody you want.
"What I would say about United is a couple of seasons ago, you could be immensely critical of United's transfer policy as it was all over the place.
"They were signing players who one, should not have been at the club, but who did not fit the profile of a Man Utd player.
"What I have seen in these last 12 months is the players that have been signed - [Paul] Pogba, [Eric] Bailly, Matic, Lukaku - in my mind they fit the profile of a United player in their strength, personality and character."
Mourinho will be happy with what happened generally in the summer, particularly when he looks at some of the transfer windows others have had that have been frustrating
Overall, though, Neville believes Mourinho's business this year, including offloading Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin in January, has got United "back on track".
"So I am a lot happier from a United point of view as a fan that the club seems to be back on track and Jose has had a big part to play in that because he does do well in the transfer market," he said.
"Even the shifting out of Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin last January for £45m was business that United have not done too much of in the past and they got good prices for them.
"So they can be happy. He might think he could have got one more, but he will be happy with what happened generally in the summer, particularly when he looks at some of the transfer windows others have had that have been frustrating."
