JOSE MOURINHO believes he saved Manchester United over £100MILLION on transfers by doing his business before early.
The Special One splurged £146m on Romelu Lukaku (£75m), Nemanja Matic (£40m) and Victor Lindelof (£31m) this summer.
Each signing was completed before Neymar’s record-shattering £198m Paris Saint-Germain switch from Barcelona on August 4.
But Mourinho reckons Lukaku would have cost DOUBLE what United paid for him, and Matic another £30m had they waited around.
The Old Trafford boss, who admits he is NOT thinking of extending his deal, told The Times: “I think we were very clever.
“We thought that something could happen that could change the market forever.
“Normally the last part of the market is less expensive, but this season, after Neymar [signed for PSG], everything changed — and changed for the worse in terms of prices.
“I think Lukaku on August 31 would have been £150m. Matic would have been £60m or £70m. Neymar changed everything.
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“If the biggest transfer in history had still been Pogba, I think Philippe Coutinho [the Liverpool playmaker] would now be in Barcelona at £101m.”
Barca splashed out £138m to bring in Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele as Neymar’s replacement.
After Neymar, everything changed – and changed for the worse.
Jose Mourinho
The France winger cost Dortmund just £14m from Rennes last May but saw his price-tag skyrocket.
Mourinho added: “People look to the £200m figure now. Now the players of £20m became £40m, the players of £40m became £60m and everything changed.
“Lukaku and Matic, now, would have cost us £200m in total.
“But because we did it in the first part of the summer, it was much less.
“I think we did well in financial terms and well in preparation terms, getting them before the season started. That is not crucial but it is important.”
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