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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho would reportedly have quit by now over failures in the summer transfer market if it was 'any other club' and has only stayed as a result of his determination to succeed at Old Trafford.

It has come to be understood that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and the United board to declined to spend big money over the summer on players they didn't think were worth it, leaving Mourinho without the new centre-back he craved as the season kicked off.

According to the Daily Mirror, Mourinho is so frustrated by a lacking of backing from above that he is even said to have privately confided to friends - "any other job at any other club and I would have quit".

The report describes the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss as still being 'seething' about the lack of transfer activity, feeling that Woodward's reluctance has 'undermined' his chances of mounting a serious Premier League title challenge to Manchester City this season.

Toby Alderweireld and Harry Maguire were both seen as too expensive by the board, with their clubs demanding fees up to and over the £75m that Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk in January.

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A separate report from The Sun claims that Mourinho will be backed by the board when the transfer window re-opens in the new year, although the conditions remain the same and United insists they will not be 'held to ransom' over high prices.

That means the club will back Mourinho, but only if they see potential deals as offering value for money. Considering it from that perspective, nothing may actually change, with the January transfer market notorious for a lack of value as selling clubs often exploit desperate buyers.