Leicester vs. Manchester United: Jose Mourinho's Key Pre-Match Presser Comments

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said the club were never going to chase "impossible deals" in the January transfer window.

The Red Devils boss spoke to the press on Friday ahead of his team's showdown with Leicester City on Sunday in the Premier League. United are looking to get back to winning ways after a frustrating sequence of three draws in the top flight, the most recent being a stalemate at home to Hull City.

Mourinho was asked about potential incomings in the January window and outlined just how difficult he feels it can be to get players in, per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News:

"I think to be speaking about transfer window in February makes no sense at all," said the United boss, per Jack Rathborn of the Daily Mirror. "Until the summer I have nothing to tell you, of course I know what I want."

Indeed, the United boss said that at the moment his focus is squarely on other matters, per the club's official Twitter feed:

There's plenty to consider for the Red Devils in the coming months, too. Given they remain in contention for the Premier League, the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League, the matches are coming thick and fast for United.

Mourinho thinks this workload will have a detrimental impact. "It affects a lot, that is obvious, I had that once with my club before Porto, the cycle is there," he said, per Rathborn. "You always have four days in a week to work when you have one game a week, it accelerates the tactical understanding."

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What Mourinho will hope is that the influx of matches prompts some extra ruthlessness in front of goal. That's after the Red Devils squandered a host of chances in the midweek showdown with Hull, missing the opportunity to put pressure on the top four heading into this weekend.

As noted by Paul Hirst of The Times, the Portuguese was pretty candid in his assessment of his attacking players during the press conference:

"When you speak about Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] goals you should always say 14 scored and one penalty. In almost every team the striker is the top scorer," he added, per Rathborn. "I understand what you are saying, we attack so much with so many players having freedom, I agree we don't score enough goals."

Looking ahead to the match against the champions on Sunday, Mourinho confirmed that Phil Jones would not be fit to feature:

He also said the game will be a difficult one, despite three defeats in succession in the league for Claudio Ranieri's side:

Although Leicester are embroiled in a relegation battle, Mourinho said it's only natural that they've dropped off after their memorable championship win in 2015-16 season.

"It was amazing what Leicester did but I don't think it could be possible to do it in the second season with Champions League at the same time," he said. "Next season will be much better for them."

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Mourinho will be conscious of his team being cut adrift in the race for the top four spots. By the time they kick off on Saturday, they could potentially be seven points behind local rivals Manchester City, who sit above them in fifth, and just two points ahead of Everton, who trail them in seventh.

Leicester are enduring a torrid time at the moment, although they still boast players capable of doing damage to any opponent on any given day. Mourinho's men can't take anything for granted as they go in search of their first Premier League win in four.