Sources close to Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho have told the media the club didn’t want Alexandre Lacazette, after missing out on his signature this summer.

Answering a question no one was asking, United sources reportedly told Manchester Evening News that Lacazette was ruled out as a potential signing. Just a month after the MEN’s article said that Lacazette was the obvious alternative to Griezmann, they’re now denying he was an option at all, in a change of heart that should surprise nobody.

The article picked out Lacazette’s pace and impact in big games as two of the main reasons why United weren’t interested. Never mind that pace is one of Lacazette’s strongest attributes, as one of the fastest strikers around.

As for how he plays in big games, that argument makes perfect sense. Lacazette only has 6 goals in his last 8 league games against the French top-six, whereas new United signing Romelu Lukaku has managed a staggering 5 goals in his last 35 league games against the big six in the Premier League, according to The Sun. Can’t argue with that.

Finally, they claimed that Lacazette’s total of 37 goals last season was inflated by penalties. This is largely true, he did score a lot of penalties. However, removing penalties from each of their tallies from 2016/17 still leaves Lacazette with the most goals. But they knew that, right?

As usual, even when he’s signing a striker for £75m, Mourinho is still trying to make it all about Arsenal. The man who once called Arsène Wenger a “voyeur” spends an awful lot of time watching and talking about the Gunners.

Maybe if he focused on his own team a bit more United could finally finish above Arsenal for the first time since Fergie left.