No way Jose: Godin spurns Mourinho's United

Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin on Thursday rejected a chance to move to Old Trafford to add extra bite to the Manchester United defence.

Diego Godin (left) said he was flattered by Manchester United's interest in his defensive services but preferred to stay in Madrid. AFP/Javier SoriaNO / AFP

The 32-year-old Uruguay international turned down a two-year contract worth 167,000 euros a week to stay at the La Liga outfit.

United, who finished second in last season's Premier League, had offered to pay his 25-million-euro release clause. But Godin, who has been at Atletico since his 2010 transfer from Villareal, decided to remain in the Spanish capital under the aegis of Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has pursued Tottenham Hotspur's Toby Alderweireld and Leicester City's Harry Maguire over the summer to bolster his back line.

Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng was also linked with the club. However only the 57-million-euro midfielder Fred has been drafted in from Shakhtar Donetsk to bolster Mourinho's resources.

“I’m not confident and the market closes today," said Mourinho. "So it is time, at least for me, to stop thinking about the market because the market will be closed, so I will have to focus on the players I have.”

Mourinho can choose his central defenders from Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones for his side's opening Premier League match against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Friday.

Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Dalot have been ruled out because of injuries while Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini are not considered fully fit after being given extra time off to recover from their exertions at the World Cup.