Jose Mourinho derails dream Man Utd transfer

4 Jul 2026 16:05 BST | 4 min read

Michael Carrick, Jose Mourinho, Man Utd — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

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Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has made his stance on Aurelien Tchouameni very clear - and it's bad news for Manchester United.

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The Red Devils are scouring the market for midfield reinforcements. Although they are expected to complete the €45 million signing of Atalanta star Ederson once his World Cup campaign with Brazil concludes, they still want more.

The plan heading into the summer was to sign at least two new midfielders to replace Casemiro and bolster squad depth ahead of the long-awaited return to the Champions League. Depending on outgoings, even more could have arrived.

Current ETV

Aurélien Tchouaméni

DM, M (C)

Real Madrid

Aurélien Tchouaméni

DM, M (C)

Real Madrid

ETV Range

€63.1M - €77.2M

However, Manuel Ugarte's injury likely means that Man Utd will only sign one more midfielder after Ederson. The Uruguay international is expected to stay and recover now, so there is neither budget nor squad space available for even more reinforcements in that position.

The Old Trafford club spent weeks trying to woo West Ham midfielder Manuel Fernandes, but after baulking at the Hammers' hefty valuation, they had to watch on as Tottenham completed a €99m deal to sign the 21-year-old. It was a similar story for Sandro Tonali, who will cost Spurs €117m.

Man Utd to miss out on Tchouameni

Man Utd also look increasingly likely to miss out on "dream" midfield target Aurelien Tchouameni. It was always going to be a difficult deal to prise him away from Real Madrid due to the transfer fee required and the cost of his wages.

Recent reports suggested that Real Madrid would be open to offers as they themselves need to make sales in order to sign a new marquee midfielder. With Eduardo Camavinga not willing to leave, Tchouameni could have been sacrificed.

However, Real Madrid released a remarkable statement on Friday in which they denied having any intention of signing Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez, who was believed to be their top midfield target.

TEAMtalk now claims that Real Madrid have halted their pursuit of a midfield signing for the time being, with new manager Jose Mourinho instead prioritising the addition of another centre-back.

Ibrahima Konate has already joined on a free transfer from Liverpool, but Los Blancos still want to sign a left-footer, or at least a left-sided centre-back. As a result, Mourinho has decided that he is content with his current midfield options.

He believes that he can finally get the best out of Tchouameni, who hasn't quite been able to live up to his €80m price tag since joining in 2022, and he is prepared to build his team around the 26-year-old.

A transfer away looks highly improbable at this stage. Tchouameni's preference was always to stay put, so this will be welcome news to him but another devastating blow to Man Utd.

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