Jose Mourinho said earlier this summer that he was seeking three or four new signings to improve his Manchester United squad.

With Nemanja Matic joining defender Victor Lindelof and striker Romelu Lukaku as part of £160m spending spree, it's safe to assume that the Portuguese boss has almost every piece of the puzzle he was seeking to make the Red Devils competitive again.

But what sort of side is he looking to build to take the previously perennial champions back to the pinnacle of the Premier League? There's an interesting fact about Mourinho's signings that may give us a good clue.

Nemanja Matic (left) has signed for United and at 6ft 3in adds some serious height to the team

The Serb is Jose Mourinho's seventh major signing - six of then are over 6ft 1in

Of the seven signings that he has made at United, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the only one under 6ft 1in.

The latest arrival, Matic, stands at almost 6ft 4in, while Lindelof is 6ft 1in and Lukaku is a towering 6ft 2in.

'If I was here, a left footed player, Mourinho said of the decision to let Matic leave Chelsea to join Benfica originally. '1.95 metres; position: midfield - would never, never, never leave. Never.' His admiration has been clear for some time, both in the player and his attributes.

Mourinho has a history of signing tall players to add physicality to his teams in the past

That means Mourinho's likely XI for the opening game against West Ham will have an average height of 6ft 1in. Throw in the likes of Chris Smalling and Marouane Fellaini, both over 6ft 3in, from the bench then the average shoots up again.

MOURINHO'S GIANT SIGNINGS Jose Mourinho has signed seven players for Manchester United, six of which have been over 6ft 1in. They are: Nemanja Matic - 6ft 3in Eric Bailly - 6ft 1in Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 6ft 4in Paul Pogba - 6ft 2in Romelu Lukaku - 6ft 2in Victor Lindelof - 6ft 1in Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 5ft 8in Advertisement

For comparison, Louis van Gaal's last ever United XI in the 2016 FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace, had an average height of 6ft. So Mourinho has added an extra inch per player in little over a year.

Leicester's championship-winning side were, on average, 5ft 11in across the board. Antonio Conte's Chelsea were around the 6ft mark.

So, if United are to be champions, they will be the tallest in at least three years to do so.

This is, of course, nothing new for Mourinho. He forged his first great Chelsea side around the hulking frames of Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Co.

It is also worth noting that although Mourinho has a history of signing tall players, at United at least it isn't all about strength.

In his fearsome midfield duo of Matic and Paul Pogba he has two serious work horses (which is interesting, as United were rock bottom in distance covered as a team) - both of whom were covering around 11km per game on average last season.

Lukaku (centre) and Pogba (right) have added some serious height to United's spine

The duo are expected to play a key role for the Red Devils as they seek the Premier League title

Indeed, Matic cracked the top 20 across the entire league for Chelsea last season.

So it's certainly worth noting that Mourinho now has a physical, athletic core in midfield plus the guile of Ander Herrera to call upon - that sounds like a recipe for success, right?

Possibly, but it's not like it is a new idea; indeed there seems to be something of a tactical shift in the Premier League.

Defender Eric Bailly has been a key upgrade for United at the back and is over 6ft 1in tall

UTD'S LAST GAME UNDER LOIUS VAN GAAL... FA Cup final v Crystal Palace: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Mata, Fellaini, Rooney, Martial, Rashford Average height of starting XI: 6ft Advertisement

... AND HOW THEY COULD LINE UP AGAINST WEST HAM Possible XI for West Ham opener: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Lindelof, Darmian, Matic, Pogba, Herrera, Rashford, Mkhitaryan, Lukaku Average height of starting XI: 6ft 1in Advertisement

Tottenham have a powerful midfield trio in Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier who are all over 6ft. Liverpool, in signing Mohamed Salah to go alongside Saido Mane, have gone for sheer, unadulterated speed to go with work rate.

Further down Everton have gone for a midfield in Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye, Muhamed Besic and Tom Davies who will run all day long.

After the era of possession sparked by Barcelona, the tactical wheel turned towards the high press and the counter-attack in the Premier League, the latter exploited perfectly by Leicester. Now, it looks as though the prevalent thought among the league's top thinkers is to try to smash through opponents' clever scheming with physicality.

Bailly will feature alongside new signing Victor Lindelof, who is also 6ft 1in at the back

Of course, the Premier League has been known as a tough and quick division for some time and power isn't the panacea to all of United's problems.

Spurs married strength with tactical nous, Liverpool put speed together with counter-attacking.

But Mourinho now has all the power he craves in his team. It's up to him to show he's still a member of the managerial elite by marrying that grit with guile.