Man Utd block Jose Mourinho's Roma loan ambition in blow to their former boss

Jose Mourinho's bid to sign Alex Telles on loan at Roma has reportedly been blocked by his former club Manchester United.

The Portuguese was interested in Telles as a replacement for injured Leonardo Spinazzola, who ruptured his Achilles during Italy's Euro 2020 campaign.

United's defender joined the club last season from Porto but only enjoyed nine Premier league appearances due to the good form of Luke Shaw.

And despite Shaw remaining Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first choice, United have rejected Roma's loan bid for Telles.

The club are said to be open to offers for the 28-year-old in the transfer market but any deal would have to be a permanent one.

That's according to Sky Sport Italia, and while Mourinho could be annoyed at the move by his former club he will be happy about how his term at Roma has started.

Roma defeated Montecatini 10-0 in a pre-season friendly on Thursday.

And at his first Roma press conference he spoke about what a first successful season would look like at the club.

He said: "You always talk about titles, we talk about the project and work. It would be easy to promise a title, but the reality is different.

"We talk about the project and about improving. You talk about titles, we talk about projects. The owners don't want an isolated success, they want to get there and stay there, which is more difficult.

"It's easy to win and have no money to pay salaries, but we want to be sustainable and the club and I share the same view. We'll work and we'll reach a title."

And on being compared to former Inter Milan boss Antonia Conte, he added: "There are some coaches in the clubs' history that you should never compare to others. For this club, don't compare Capello or Liedholm to other coaches.

"For Inter, never compare others to Herrera or me, because you just can't do that.

" Cristiano Ronaldo should not be worried about me because I am not playing at centre-back. Had I played centre-back, I'd hit him, but unfortunately, I am not good enough and I am too old to play against him."

Mourinho joined Roma on a three-year deal after being fired by Tottenham Hotspur in April.

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