Usain Bolt exclusive: Why Jose Mourinho’s football is hard to love - and signing a new striker

Manchester United celebrity supporter Usain Bolt has admitted he is struggling to embrace Jose Mourinho’s brand of football and urged the Old Trafford giants to sign a clinical striker in this month’s transfer window.

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Sport, eight-time Olympic gold medal sprinting legend Bolt opened up on his passion for United and it was evident that he not enjoying the cautious approach Mourinho has deployed during a season that has seen Manchester City outplay their local rivals in the Premier League.

Plenty of United fans have expressed frustration at Mourinho’s pragmatic approach to the game, with Bolt adding his high profile voice to that debate.

“I am a fan of Mourinho, but I’m not fully happy about the way he plays,” Bolt told Yahoo Sport and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

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“He plays like Louis van Gaal, more defensive and passing. That is not fun for us, you know. We are used to Alex Ferguson with attack, attack and counter attack at pace. That is what we are used to, but this is different.

“I cannot say he is doing bad. I can’t say he is doing too bad, but we just need a striker. We are creating a lot of chances, but we need a guy who is an outright striker. I feel he should find someone who is a goal scorer in the transfer window.

“He plays slow and boring football, but the guys are getting chances. If we were taking those chances, we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now.”

Bolt believes £75m summer signing Romelu Lukaku needs time to develop into a top class striker, as he suggested the Belgian hit-man is not yet ready to assume the responsibility of being United’s first choice marksman.

“The only problem is we don’t have an outright goal scorer,” he believes. “Lukaku is there, but he is not refined. Being at a big club like this, in probably two years he will be better. Right now, I think he is in the learning process and I think he will get better.”

He went on to suggest the criticism of his friend Paul Pogba for his performance this season was unjust, as he believes he can be the king pin of the United team for years to come.

“I feel like the criticism he gets is unfair. He is making keys passes, he has had some back luck,” he added. “If he gets a striker who is really good, a guy like Van Nistelrooy or Harry Kane, he would so so many goals.

“He needs a striker who has good movement in front of him and Pogba will pick the pass because he is a brilliant passer.”

Usain Bolt spoke to Yahoo Sport at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas. Follow all the drama from one of the biggest Poker events of 2018 here.