Mourinho Wanted Liverpool Winger To Replace Zaha

It has been revealed that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wanted Liverpool winger Xerdan Shaqiri to fill the void left by Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha at Manchester United.

The Manchester Evening News (MEN) disclosed that Mourinho talked about the quality of Shaqiri to friends in the summer before the Swiss international player joined the Reds in a £13.5m deal.

The Red Devils have not signed a specialist right winger since Wilfred Zaha joined from London club Crystal Palace in 2013 only for him to return to Selhurst Park two years later.

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Mourinho and Manchester United could have signed Shaqiri this summer but it was Liverpool who took the chance on him.

Liverpool activated the £13.5m release clause in his Stoke City in the summer after the Potters suffered relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.

Shaqiri came back to haunt Mourinho and Manchester United in the colours of Liverpool after he came off the bench to score two goals for the Reds thereby leading them to a 3-1 home win over their fierce rivals.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker made a goalkeeping blunder to gift Jesse Lingard a 33rd-minute equaliser after Sadio Mane had given the home side a 24th-minute lead.

The result was enough to take Liverpool back to the top of the table.