It is almost as if Jose Mourinho has watched and learned from the painfully obvious mistakes his two predecessors at Old Trafford made in the transfer market.

In the summer of 2013, David Moyes, simply grateful to have been given the job, allowed the club to drift through the summer months without purchasing a single player, until he managed to grab Marouane Felliani from Everton on the last day of the transfer window for £4 million more than his expired release clause.

That entire summer was a farce for United, and Moyes never recovered. His failure to add to his squad one of the main reasons his six-year contract lasted less than 10 months.

Moyes was replaced by Louis van Gaal, but preoccupied by guiding the Netherlands to the World Cup semi-final in Brazil, the Dutchman repeated the same mistakes, and though he managed to sign more players, he failed to do it early enough.

On the opening day of the 2014-15 Premier League season United began the Van Gaal era with just one new signing, Ander Herrera, in their starting 11, and they suffered the embarrassment of a first home league defeat to Swansea City for 83 years.

Van Gaal panicked and spent the final weeks of the transfer window rushing around adding unsuitable players, including the expensive arrival of Radamel Falcao from Monaco on deadline day itself.

United, naturally, took time to gel as a team and had to endure an ultimately disappointing season in which they finished fourth.

Obviously a sucker for punishment, Van Gaal once again failed to complete his squad before the start of his second season, and having already shed several attacking players, found himself scrambling to sign Anthony Martial on the final day of the transfer window.

Even the expected sale of David De Gea, which would collapse, was left until the final day, spreading confusion throughout Old Trafford during the opening weeks of the season.

It meant that once again a disjointed United side made a slow start to the season, which they never managed to shake off and would stumble to a fifth-placed finish that cost Van Gaal his job.

This season under Mourinho Manchester United want to have a quiet deadline day.

There will be no more panicked buys and rushing against the clock to have late bids accepted. 

Having observed the self-harm and naivety of his predecessors, Mourinho instead wants a settled squad ready for the new season in the middle of August. 

On the first day of pre-season training United had already completed the signings of three new players.

According to numerous reports, including the BBC, United are also pursuing Paul Pogba, but this is being done early, so it won’t disrupt the start of their season.

As he remoulds his squad Mourinho is replacing confusion with certainty and authority.

The signings of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and possibly Paul Pogba, to aid Marcus Rashford and Martial, should instantly solve United’s chronic lack of goals from last season.

But while Mourinho has made United’s attack fit for purpose again, he cannot afford to rest easy, for there is still much work to be done on his defence.

At the moment, United boast a title-winning attack, but an inexperienced and possibly vulnerable back four.

Of course, Mourinho has invested £30 million in the potential of new central defender Eric Bailly, but when he was asked if his new signing was ready for the Premier League, the Portuguese admitted, “I don’t know,” as reported by the Daily Mirror

Bailly appears to be a fine signing, young and muscular, but the type of player who should be eased in gradually alongside more experienced team-mates.

But here is the problem, United don’t currently have enough of them in defence.

United’s strongest-looking defence would consist of Matteo Darmian, who struggled in his first season in England, or Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who has played only eight first-team games, at right-back; Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly in central defence, and at left-back, Luke Shaw, still only 21 and just returning after 10 months out with a broken leg.

It has the look of a brilliant defence in two years’ time, but not now.

There should be some concern that Chris Smalling, who is still teetering on the divide between becoming a dependable defender and being a risk who hasn’t fulfilled his potential, is by some distance the club’s most experienced defender.

Smalling, still only 26 himself, would benefit from playing alongside a more experienced and wily defender, and being the junior member of a partnership, and not, which he is at the moment, the senior partner for Bailly to learn from.

Mourinho needs to return to the transfer market for another central defender, for while Bailly is the future, he needs someone for now.

The simple truth is United are still looking to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand two years after the duo left Old Trafford. 

Over the course of his career, the Portuguese has built his success on having savvy, dominant and, crucially, experienced, defenders at the heart of his back fours. 

At Porto, it was Jorge Costa and Ricardo Carvalho, in his first spell at Chelsea John Terry and Carvalho again, at Inter Milan Marco Materazzi and Walter Samuel, and at Real Madrid, the brilliance of Pepe and Sergio Ramos.

When Mourinho returned to Chelsea and guided them to the Premier League title in 2015, Terry, who turned 34 that season, played every game, and he even came close to winning the Footballer of the Year award. 

After securing so many trophies with these defenders, it seems unlikely Mourinho would now launch his comeback in management protected by United’s current collection of young and largely untested defenders.

The new United manager has been bold and brilliant in the transfer market so far, but he still needs to add more experience to his defence if he wants to bring the title to Old Trafford. 

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