Jose Mourinho says Manchester United's spending is 'not enough' to compete with Manchester City

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Jose Mourinho has claimed that the money Manchester United have spent in the transfer market in recent years is still “not enough” to compete with Manchester City.

United lost more ground on the Premier League leaders on Boxing Day with a 2-2 draw against Burnley at Old Trafford, three days after sharing the points against Leicester City.

While City remain unbeaten at the top of the table, United have dropped seven points from the last 15 and watched their neighbours streak ahead. Pep Guardiola’s side will be 15 points clear if they beat Newcastle United on Wednesday night.

When asked whether such a record was acceptable at a ‘big club’ like United, Mourinho differentiated between a ‘big club’ and a ‘big football team’ and claimed his squad still requires work if it is to match a club that can “buy full-backs for the price of strikers”.

Mourinho asked: “You think Milan is not as big as us? You think they are not as big as we are? You think Real, Inter Milan is not as big as we are? There are many big clubs.

“I know what is a big club. One thing is a big club and another thing is a big football team. They are different things. We are in the second year of trying to rebuild a football team that is not one of the best teams in the world.

“When you speak about responsibilities to win the Premier League, Tottenham doesn’t have that because they don’t have a history of winning the Premier League? Chelsea doesn’t have it? Arsenal doesn’t have it? Manchester City buy full-backs for the price of strikers.”

City signed Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker and Danilo for a combined £128m during the summer, while Guardiola has spent a total of £416m since arriving at the Etihad in 2016.

Mourinho was appointed at Old Trafford at the same time and has spent £286m on seven players during that time, but the United manager insists yet more money must be made available to him.

“It is not enough. The price for the big clubs is different for the other clubs,” he said. “The big historical clubs, they are normally punished in the market for their history. The boys are doing what they can and they are doing fine.”

“You say seven points from 15, I say last two matches we have 15 chances to score and we concede three ‘s’ [s***] goals and an amazing free-kick.

“The boys do what they can. They are trying hard with the injuries we have. I am not happy with the result. I was not happy with the result against Leicester.”