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Jose Mourinho

LONDON. — After Manchester United completed the signing of Romelu Lukaku, we examine whether the Belgian underlines Jose Mourinho’s preference of physically imposing players and how this translates to the pitch.

Throughout his career at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and United, Mourinho has delivered success and trophies — 25 to be exact.

Yet for all that success, the Portuguese’s teams are often remembered as much, if not more, for their physicality and power over style and flare. The domineering characters of Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa, to name a few, were all signed by Mourinho at Chelsea and went on to play integral roles in his title-winning squads.

And, midway through his third transfer window at United, Mourinho’s penchant for players of stature looks stronger than ever before.

His first window saw giants Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba join the club, with the acquisition of the diminutive Henrikh Mkhitaryan an exception.

Having offloaded players in January, Mourinho has continued in the same vein as last summer, bringing in the tall, powerful figures of Victor Lindelof and Lukaku. It means that of the six signings Mourinho has brought to United, Mkhitaryan is the only one who does not exceed the current average height of an outfield Premier League player — 182cm. — Sky Sports.