Schalke sporting director claims Jose Mourinho was desperate to sign young Swiss striker

Manchester United haven't been shy in splashing the cash this summer.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly have already signed on for the Jose Mourinho project while Paul Pogba is almost certain to follow suit. But the Red Devils haven't had it all their own way in the transfer window as they reportedly missed out on a striking target. According to Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel, United were beaten to the signature of prodigious Swiss forward Breel Embolo by the Bundesliga side. Schalke signed the 19-year-old from Basel for €20 million in June and, apparently, they beat out some tough competition from a keen Mourinho in doing so. “There are a number of reasons why we signed Embolo,” Heidel told the Bundesliga website. “First and foremost there are sporting reasons. It’s nothing new that he is a great player. There is a reason why Mourinho desperately wanted to sign him for Manchester United.” Embolo scored 30 goals in 86 appearances for Basel and performed admirably for Switzerland at Euro 2016. He has claimed in the past that Mario Balotelli is one of his biggest inspirations as a footballer which could come as a concerning warning sign but Schalke seem delighted with their piece of business. “We also see him as a player the Schalke fans can identify with, a bit like Benedikt Howedes, Leroy Sane and someone like Ralf Fahrmann,” Heidel said. “Embolo had a similar role at Basel, where 80 per cent of the shirts they sold had his name on it. He is very open, is always smiling and makes it easy for people to like him. “When we realised there was a possibility that we could miss out on signing him due to other clubs’ interest, we had to move fast. “President Clemens Tonnies happily made his plane available. We flew out to Montpellier at 1pm and returned five hours later. We had wrapped up the deal in that short period.”