Jose Mourinho has said he is unsure whether United's intense festive fixture schedule is due to his side being deliberately targeted by the Premier League. Saturday's trip to Leicester City is the first of four games between December 23rd and January 1st, with Southampton and Burnley visiting Old Trafford on Tuesday and Saturday respectively before United travel to Everton on New Year's Day.
This leaves second-placed United with six rest days, one of the clubs with the least amount, while the leaders, Manchester City, and Liverpool have seven. Arsenal and Tottenham are among those with nine days, the highest number.
On Thursday the club website published a breakdown of United’s days off in comparison to other teams, suggesting that “United have a harder time of it than our rivals towards the top of the table”.
Asked if he believes his side had been unfairly disadvantaged, Mourinho said: “It’s a good question. You want me to be punished, right? We are not the only ones. There are other teams in the same situation as we are and Leicester is one of them.”
He added: “We did the simple objective study on that and there is a big gap, a really big gap between some clubs and other clubs. There are clearly the ones that are really privileged and there are clearly another group that are really punished by the decisions of the calendar and there are another group in the middle of it where I would like to be. I know I would never be in the top group but in the middle group we would like to be.”
Title challenge
Despite the 11-point deficit to City, the Portuguese refused to give up on United's title challenge. "We are in the race that only ends for us in May when we play against Watford at Old Trafford," he said. "Then do we have FA Cup final to play? We have one more if so. Do we have a Champions League final to play? If we do, we have one more game. If we don't it's finished but until the last match of the season we have work to do."
Meanwhile, Manchester United are preparing an opening offer of £25 million (€28 million) for the Fulham teenager Ryan Sessegnon, with Mourinho prepared to allow Luke Shaw to leave Old Trafford.
Sessegnon (17) who finished as joint-top scorer at the European Under-19 Championship last summer with three goals for England, has been tracked by United’s scouts for some time and has also attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid.
The European champions have watched the defender on several occasions this season, while Spurs had a bid potentially worth more than £20 million (€23 million) with add-ons rejected in the summer.
Sessegnon, despite usually operating as a left-back, is also capable of playing further up the field and has gained a reputation as one of English football's brightest attacking talents. He became the first 17-year-old to score a hat-trick in the top four divisions of English football since Dele Alli when he inspired Fulham to a 5-4 victory over Sheffield United in November.
Prized asset
Fulham have indicated it would take a bid in excess of £30 million (€34 million) to tempt them into selling their prized asset, with Slavisa Jokanovic admitting on Thursday he is unsure whether Sessegnon will remain at Craven Cottage. "In this moment, I am not thinking of being without him for the season, but it is not under my control," the manager said.
“All the questions are what the value of this player is but myself, as a coach, I prefer to stay with the more important players but on the other side I can understand the business side, too. If we want to be competitive we must keep our important players.”
Should United have a bid accepted, Tottenham are expected to renew their approach but have also inquired about Shaw, who has fallen out of favour under Mourinho. The 22-year-old has played only 83 minutes in the Premier League this season, although any move for Sessegnon is not believed to be contingent on him leaving.
Tottenham are also interested in signing Sessegnon’s twin brother, Steven, who also plays for Fulham and starred for England’s Under-17s in their World Cup final victory this year.
Mauricio Pochettino, along with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, also retains an interest in Wilfried Zaha but Crystal Palace are adamant the £50m-rated (€56 million) forward will not be sold in January.
– Guardian
