The United boss is ready to use his existing options if he cannot sign a winger (Picture: Getty)
The United boss is ready to use his existing options if he cannot sign a winger (Picture: Getty)

Jose Mourinho is bracing himself to miss out on landing a fourth and final summer signing, with Manchester United likely to go into the new season without the winger they wanted.

The Portuguese coach had made no secret of his desire to bring in four new faces before the new season started, wanting a striker, centre-back, midfielder and wide-man.

The club moved quickly to bring in three of those positions, but they remain without a winger after Inter Milan played hard ball over a fee for Croatian schemer Ivan Perisic.

Inter would not budge on their £50m valuation of Perisic, a fee United would not pay (Picture: Getty)

While United will remain vigilant in the transfer market right up until deadline day, Mourinho is losing faith in their ability to do a deal and says he is ready to use his existing options instead.

‘We got a centre midfielder, we got a striker,’ he said at his pre-match press conference ahead of United’s Premier League opener against West Ham.

‘Obviously [we wanted] a player for another position playing from the sides, but we have players and if you cannot strengthen the team in these areas, we have people that we trust and we go for it.’

He continued: ‘I’m happy with the effort the club did, I’m happy that the club managed to do 75 per cent of the work before the Premier League starts.

READ MORE | Why the Premier League title is heading back to Manchester

‘And if, until 31 August, the remaining 25 per cent don’t arrive, I will not moan. I will just go with everything I have to try to win every match we play.’

United had also been linked with Gareth Bale as a potential wing option, though the Real Madrid star reaffirmed his commitment to the Spanish giants after a brief flirtation with Mourinho.

Mourinho briefly tried to turn Bale’s head, but he does not want to leave Madrid (Picture: Getty)

Danny Rose has been muted as a potential target, especially in light of his recent attack on Tottenham’s transfer policy and United’s switch to a back three, but a deal is unlikely at this stage.

Instead, Mourinho will likely use either Jesse Lingard or Marcus Rashford on the left wing, with the former starting the UEFA Super Cup against Real before being replaced by the latter.

Rashford had a chance to square up the match and take it to a shootout but fluffed his lines, while Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan can also fill in there.

MORE : Manchester United in talks to re-sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic, confirms Jose Mourinho