José Mourinho’s scouting trip to watch Mijat Gacinovic, if that’s what it was, has miserably failed to be a secret, since outlets from all around the world have covered it.
The Manchester United boss has reportedly travelled to Austria, where he watched the winger playing an international game for Serbia.
Portuguese newspaper Record was one of the few who not only reported it, but went deeper and made an analysis of the potential Manchester United target.
The outlet spoke to Ljubinko Drulović, a former player and coach who made his career in Portugal, and has quite a knowledge to speak about the midfielder, since he was his manager in Serbia’s youth levels.
“He was European Under19 Champion in 2013. I was the coach! He was then U20 World Champion in 2015, then under the management of Veljko Paunovic. He is one of the few who were present in Serbian football’s two greatest achievements. He belongs to the golden generation, he’s used to winning,” Drulović told Record.
“His father was also a footballer, now assistant coach at Spartak Subotica. Why, then, is the player followed by United? He’s a very fast and technical winger. He has wide margin of progression. He plays preferably on the right, but works on either side. Besides an excellent player, he is an excellent guy. I really like him!”
Asked if there’s any Manchester United player who Gacinovic is similar to, Drulovic said: “He’s a bit like Martial. There are many clubs eyeing him, but if he goes to United he will have the support of Matic.”
Gacinovic signed a new contract with Frankfurt a few months ago, and is currently protected with a deal which runs until 2021.
So if he was able to impress Mourinho despite Serbia’s 3-2 loss against Austria, then Manchester United have some work to do to take him from the Bundesliga side.
