Jose Mourinho Claims Normal Players Cost 'Crazy' Money After Man City Sign Kyle Walker
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has expressed his belief that normal players are now attracting "really crazy" transfer fees.
The Portuguese coach was offering his assessment on the state of the current market in football after Manchester City's £50m signing of Kyle Walker.
And Mourinho has admitted that the inflation in the transfer market, particularly this summer, has not been unexpected.
“It doesn’t surprise me, really," he said, quoted by the Independent. “It doesn’t surprise me because I keep saying there is big economic power in every club that allows the clubs to say no or to say, ‘You pay what I want or you don’t get it’.
“I can imagine that Man City would like to pay £25million for Kyle. I can imagine that. But I am sure that they knocked on Spurs’ door and were told, ‘This is the price’. If you don’t pay, you don’t get.
“Then you have the option to pay or have the option to say no, so the market will be always what people ask and what people pays.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Kyle Walker of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on May 14, 2017 in London, England. Tottenham Hotspur are playing their last ever home match at White Hart Lane after their 118 year stay at the stadium. Spurs will play at Wembley Stadium next season with a move to a newly built stadium for the 2018-19 campaign. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Clive Rose/GettyImages
“The strange thing is that now I am used to paying or seeing teams paying big amounts for big players – and now everybody is paying big amounts for good players.
“There is a difference between good players and big players, and now the figures go really crazy also for normal players.”
And Mourinho added that he is not willing to pay over the odds to strengthen his squad before the window shuts in September.
Coach Jose Mourinho speaks at a press conferenece following a Manchester United Open Training Session at the University of California (UCLA), July 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
ROBYN BECK/GettyImages
"Everybody knows because I said it, very objective I would like four players and asked for four players," he said. "I'm ready to go from four to three because the market is difficult, because some clubs they think the market is different from others.
"We are not a club that is not ready to buy and buy and buy non-stop. We are not a club that is ready to pay what clubs wants us to pay, so I am ready to go from four to three. With these three, I just give a better balance to the team, to the squad and better conditions to compete."
