Mourinho: Rivals are afraid to say they want to win title

Joe Williams

Jose Mourinho is under no illusions that his target is to win the Premier League title this season at Manchester United – but reckons other teams are “afraid to say” that they want to win it.

Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal in the summer, will be aware he has to impress in his first season at Old Trafford after being handed a huge transfer war chest.

The new Red Devils boss has secured four big-name signings since his arrival with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly all arriving at the club.

And Mourinho thinks a lot of United’s title rivals are scared of stating their ambitions out loud.

“Many teams think they can win it (the Premier League) but they are afraid to say it, they prefer to play a defensive game in the press,” Mourinho told the assembled media.

“Man United has to say on day one that we want to win the title.”

Clearly aware of Manchester City and Chelsea’s improvements to their first team this summer, Mourinho was slightly more cautious when talking about United’s chances of winning the title.

“We feel that we are a candidate to win the title, we know there are more than 3 who have similar ambitions,” Mourinho continued.

“If we aren’t champions because someone else is better than us then great, that is football.”