Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho had previously worked with Mesut Ozil during his time at Real Madrid and a lot of pundits were confident that the Special One would try and sign the German playmaker during the January transfer window.
United did bring Alexis Sanchez on board from Arsenal but there was no news of the Red Devils going after Mesut Ozil. Ozil eventually signed a new deal with the Gunners thus relieving a lot of fans from the fact that the club would have to let him go out for free during the summer.
Now the Manchester Evening News have revealed the main reason why Jose Mourinho did not pursue Mesut Ozil at the start of the new year.
According to a report in the MEN, the United boss dropped the plan of signing the playmaker because he felt that Jesse Lingard was more than capable of playing in the No 10 role.
Lingard who is a Man United academy graduate made his debut for the senior team during the 2014-15 season but this year the English International has had a breakthrough season at the club.
JLingz, as he is fondly called, has played 40 games for Manchester United in all competitions this season scoring 13 goals.
The attacking midfielder was deployed in an Ozil type position against Swansea on Saturday and the 25-year-old showed exactly what he is capable of.
Another plus for having faith on Lingard is the fact that he is just 25 whereas Mesut Ozil is 29 years old. On the other hand, Mesut Ozil has played 28 games this season for the Gunners while scoring just 5 goals.
So much talk about Jose Mourinho not promoting homegrown talent.
