Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho insists he's not in the market for a new defender

The United manager has been heavily linked with adding defensive cover to his squad as Eric Bailly prepares to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations

Mourinho has sought to downplay rumours linking him with Southampton's Jose Fonte (Getty)

Jose Mourinho insists he will not buy a defender in the January transfer window despite the departure of Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly on international duty.

The Manchester United manager has been heavily linked with adding defensive cover to his squad with his fellow Portuguese Jose Fonte, who recently handed in a transfer request at Southampton, the latest name connected with Old Trafford.

But with Chris Smalling and Phil Jones over early-season injury problems and Marcos Rojo one of the positive surprises of United’s season to date, Mourinho insists a new signing is not in his plans and he can cope while Bailly is at the Africa Cup of Nations.

"No, I wait for Bailly,” said Mourinho. “I hope the three can control the situation in those eight matches.

“I will try to rest one in every game. On Saturday I will rest one, against Hull another - and we'll try to make a rotation between these three. We still have Daley Blind as the fourth in case we need him to play there. We have Michael Carrick - so let's try."

Benfica defender Victor Lindelof has also been strongly linked with United in the current window although Mourinho’s position suggests the Swedish international may now have to wait until the summer to complete any move.

Meanwhile, despite being satisfied with his squad, Mourinho admits it is a tall order expecting his team to cope with the pressure of competing on four fronts - the league, League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League.

“I have 24 players,” said Mourinho, who has revealed he will not consider selecting midfield pair Morgan Schneiderlin or Memphis Depay while they appear likely to leave Old Trafford. “I cannot have 25 or 30.

“We have the right number of players. Is every player the same? No. Let’s be realistic. The squad is good but not every player is the same.

“One thing is to play Antonio Valencia at right-back, another thing is to play another one. One thing is to play Paul Pogba and another thing is Paul Pogba not being available to play. It depends on the situation.

“What I know is there are teams without European competitions and we are in the worst European competition to play because if you go all the way you have matches and matches and matches non-stop. We have a two-legged semi-final against Hull. If we play the final if we beat Hull we would have to play against Manchester City later because it’s scheduled for the day of the final.

Rojo has risen to prominence in recent weeks, putting in a number of impressive performances (Getty)

“So I hope we are going to have a very complicated situation. But it would be very complicated.”

Mourinho’s meeting with Hull in Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final first leg will see him face the Yorkshire club’s new manager, his countryman and friend Marco Silva.

“Let me wish my friend Marco big luck,” added Mourinho. “He’s a talented young manager. I want to wish him all the luck, except against us obviously.

“And I want to make it very clear that my job is football manager, not football agent. And I have nothing to do with Marco coming to England. He came to England because he is good and because he had good results previously!”