Who Will Manchester United Sign Next After Jose Mourinho's £50 Million Deal Hits Problems?

Jose Mourinho will make more signings this summer as he looks to shape Manchester United into a team that can contend for the Premier League and Champions League.

It's just those signings may not include Ivan Perisic.

Perisic, the 28-year-old Croatia winger, has been at the center of a will-he, won't-he transfer saga between United and Inter Milan almost since the summer began.

Initially, the only impediment seemed to be the fee. Inter wanted £50 million for Perisic, a sinuous, skilful attacking player who has fallen out with his coaches in the past.

United was not willing to meet that valuation but now there appears to be a more insurmountable problem on the near horizon.

Inter has a new coach in Luciano Spalletti, the 58-year-old former A.S. Roma boss. Spalletti is apparently keen on Perisic despite warning his entire squad that they need to play for Inter as a team, rather than looking out for themselves, while Inter is still demanding £50 million for Perisic according to Corriere dello Sport.

If United and Inter cannot meet on a valuation and there is a desire on Spalletti's part to keep Perisic, any deal seems highly unlikely. That's a long way from the signals given out as recently as the middle of June, when United and Perisic were reported to have agreed upon personal terms. If the player still wants to leave, of course, then at least some power still lies with United.

If not, Mourinho's attention will quickly shift to other solutions to his problem on the left wing. The Portuguese needs a natural left-footer to balance out his attack, particularly when United counters. Even if Anthony Martial has a future under Mourinho, he's probably not that man while Marcus Rashford will eventually shift permanently into a central striking berth.

This looks like a problem that's going to vex Mourinho and United for a little bit longer yet.