Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is becoming increasingly frustrated at the inability to sign players, with moves for several transfer targets being delayed or restricted due to host clubs wanting players in before they sell players.
United leave for their three week tour of the United States on Sunday, and it was his intention to have five new players boarding the flight. However, only defender Victor Lindelof has arrived at Old Trafford so far.
The Red Devils remain strongly linked with several players, most notably Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata, Chelsea defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic and Inter Milan attacker Ivan Perisic. None have come to fruition and links with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann and Neymar have all subsided, with all looking to stay at their current clubs.
With Champions League football assured at Old Trafford, and United having a substantial gap to close on Premier League Champions Chelsea, Mourinho wants to bring in more quality to his squad. He is most interested in adding to the attack with the release of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the out of favour Wayne Rooney looking very likely to re-join Everton. Mourinho will only allow Rooney to leave once he has landed one or two players, however. There is a possibility that United could use Rooney as bait for Romelu Lukaku, but it seems more likely that Lukaku will end up at Chelsea rather than Old Trafford.
Mourinho is also very aware of the signings that rivals Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton have made and he is becoming even more desperate to keep pace in the transfer market. He wants to get as much preseason training into his new arrivals as possible.
Although Mourinho was satisfied with three trophies last season, only a much improved Premier League campaign and qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League will satisfy him this season.
