Jose Mourinho Admits Man Utd 'Need to Buy the Best to Compete' Following Defeat to Juventus

Following Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Tuesday evening, Jose Mourinho admitted that it will take some heavy investment in order for the club to reach the same level as the Italian giants.

An early goal from Paulo Dybala proved to be the difference between the two sides on the night, with United failing to find an equaliser in spite of a slightly improved second half performance.

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Following the match, Mourinho detailed the fact that his United side are currently well behind some of Europe's elite clubs and claimed that only heavy investment from the club's board would allow them to catch up.

“To go to the Juventus level? Barcelona level? Real Madrid level? How can you reach that level? Manchester City level? How can you reach this level?” Mourinho asked, as per the Guardian.

“Yes [by buying the best players], but it is not also easy because many of the players they belong to these top teams. So we work with what we have, we try to improve with what we have. I don’t think we gave them too much respect.

"Juventus was in a different level of quality, stability, experience and know-how."

Mourinho also went on to discuss the form of Romelu Lukaku, whose poor performance resulted in an eighth straight game without a goal.

“I have to agree his moment is not sweet, not just with the goals he is not scoring but in his confidence, movement, touch, he is not linking the game well with the team but he's our striker and a good striker and a striker we believe in,” he said.

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“Could I play [Marcus] Rashford there? But then I don't have a winger because in this moment we are in a difficult situation. He is a hard-working guy but one day the goal will arrive and the confidence will be back.”