Jose Mourinho Says Manchester United Need More Signings to 'Close the Gap'

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes the club need one more summer of spending before they can reach the same level as their European rivals.

According to The Times' Oliver Kay (h/t ESPN.co.uk's Rob Dawson), he said:

"I have said three [summer] transfer windows is what I need to have the team I want to have—the team [that] I think can bring Manchester United to the top of English football and to close the gap to the top of European football again—and I still think we need that third transfer window, but I'm not going to wait for the third transfer window to try to reach it."

Mourinho has spent in the region of £150 million in each of the two summer transfer windows he's overseen at Old Trafford to recruit Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan last year, and then Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic this year.

The Red Devils were only able to muster a sixth-placed Premier League finish last year despite the new arrivals, but they qualified for the UEFA Champions League after winning the UEFA Europa League, as well as triumphing in the EFL Cup.

United have enjoyed a positive start this year after winning their first three games, and James Robson of the Manchester Evening News believed they needed to consolidate that with another arrival late in the window:

Despite failing to add a fourth player—aside from bringing Ibrahimovic back—Bleacher Report's Dean Jones believes Mourinho will have been delighted with his club's business:

Indeed, while one more high-calibre capture would have been another strong step towards United returning to the status they once enjoyed, it was nevertheless a successful window.

The Red Devils have also moved to secure Luke Shaw's future after extending his deal—which was to expire next summer—by another year, per James Nursey of the Mirror.

The extension will give the left-back the opportunity to regain form and fitness at the club, and should he do so then a long-term deal will likely beckon. If not, the club will at least be able to recoup something on him next summer.

United getting the best out of their assets, like Shaw, will go a long way to helping them bridge the divide on those at the pinnacle of European football.

This season's Champions League campaign will show how big that gap is and give an indication of how much more spending will be needed next summer to close it.