Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has returned from his post-World Cup vacation. This will prove to be a timely boost for Jose Mourinho as he bids to have a decent season.

The Belgian striker has taken time off for some R&R ever since he helped Belgium reach the semi-finals in Russia.

However, United definitely felt the pinch of his absence. United manager Mourinho sounded a warning following a comprehensive friendly defeat to Bayern Munich.

“My CEO knows what I want and I still have a few days to wait and see what happens,” Mourinho said.

“The other clubs who compete with us are really strong and already have fantastic teams. Or they are investing massively like Liverpool, who are buying everything and everybody.

“If we don’t make our team better it will be a difficult season for us.

?Finally, it’s over. Finally, such a difficult pre-season is over.

?The players were, once again, brilliant. They could not have done better than they did. It was a fantastic experience for the boys.

?There was a moment where I was looking into the area and there was Axel at centre-back to the left, Demetri at left-wing-back, Garner in midfield on the left and Chong.

?At the same time is was [Robert] Lewandowski on Axel, [Arjen] Robben on Mitchell, [Leon] Goretzka on Garner and [Niklas] Sule on Chong. It was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.”

Before the season begins though, Mourinho will hope for a couple of signings to come through before Thursday’s deadline. Namely a centre-back with Toby Alderweireld and Jerome Boateng as potential targets. Mourinho is also reportedly eyeing?Harry Maguire as well.

How will Manchester United’s season pan out? Only time will tell. Another big question is, can the Red Devils emulate the success that was wrought during the Sir Alex Ferguson era?