Mourinho: More changes needed at Manchester United

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he still has work to do to change the look of his new team after inheriting a roster built largely in part by his predecessor Louis van Gaal.

Mourinho joined the Red Devils after parting ways with Chelsea last season, and while he is already hard at work preparing for the 2016-17 campaign, the Portuguese tactician says he still has long-term changes to make at the club.

"My teams are different to Mr. Van Gaal's teams," Mourinho said, as quoted by ESPN FC. "I want to make it clear that I am not saying my teams are better or have better ideas or my principles of play are better. Not at all.

"For two years, they had some principles of play that are not mine - clearly, they are not - but the players are players and, without losing their identity, they always try to adapt to what the manager wants.

"Of course we make mistakes and we are far from perfection, but they are giving everything to adapt, and step by step my team is going to be my team."

Part of making Manchester United his team is bringing in new players, with Mourinho admitting that his life would have been easier if the club brought in "20 new players and (started) from zero."

Mourinho has already drastically changed Manchester United's look, bringing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan while closing in on Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.

But he says one player slipped through his fingers this year; highly-touted Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches joined Bayern Munich earlier in the summer.

"I arrived late. I signed in May. If I had arrived earlier, I'd have fought for him," Mourinho said, as quoted by ESPN FC. "Manchester United watched Renato many times, and maybe I did it even more. In so much time at home, I watched many Benfica and Portuguese league games."