I think Mourinho has actually been a put off for signings, there has been a few rumblings that more than one player has said no to playing under him, and having half the current squad pissed isn't going to help that. Godin using us as a bargaining tool knowing how desperate we are says a lot. Woodward can't really do much if a player has no interest in playing for us - which is something we're not used to en masse like this, we've always had a pulling power right back to the Busby era, even in the 70s and early 80s we could get big name players to join us.
Genuinely think the board weren't willing to sanction any huge signings without players been shifted, especially when its to clog up positions we've a lot of cover for. We've got Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Lindelof and Rojo all earning big pay in defence, why would a board pay out for another big money defender without shifting one on? Especially when we had one of the best defences in the league last year. Beyond links for Perisic again, there was never any real talk of a decent right attacking option, nor any fullbacks with more games than fingers. Genuinely don't blame the board for holding back when it's more than possible the manager could be gone this year if he can't get the players back onside - especially when the guy's already spent hundreds of millions to make the side look worse.
