Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho admits that his club are still far behind the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Chelsea as they look to end their four-year wait for the Premier League crown.

The Special One insists that the Red Devils have been left behind in the ‘evolution of football’ following the club’s average run under former boss Louis van Gaal.

United have spent more than £100m on Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof this summer, but he insists that they are not favourites for the English title considering the transfer activity of Manchester City, who have spent more than double the figure. Meanwhile, the Portuguese manager already had a special praise for Tottenham Hotspur, who have not spent a penny during this summer’s transfer window.

Spurs have made a good profit of £50m from the sale of Kyle Walker to City, but Mauricio Pochettino is content with the options at hand ahead of the new season. Mourinho is undoubtedly envious about the players present at the north London club after he named a few including Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Eric Dier, who remain pivotal to Spurs’ success for the upcoming campaign.

“I don’t think we are big candidates for the title but we are [candidates]. Everybody speaks about the dimension of the investment at Man City [so far just below £220m] but there is another team that I feel the dimension of their investment is also phenomenal – Tottenham. Until now they spent zero pounds, right? They keep everybody they want to keep. They keep Dele Alli, [Harry] Kane and [Toby] Alderweireld, they keep Eric Dier, they keep everyone they want to keep,” Mourinho said.

Tottenham Hotspur improved from their third place finish in the 2015/16 season to finish runners-up to Chelsea last term, and they will undoubtedly have their eye on the major prize next season with the pressure of keeping hold of some of the best talents from England.