Man Utd news: Mourinho’s Chelsea pal to seal club record deal for Milinkovic-Savic

The Lazio star is represented by fellow Serb and former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman, who was one of Mourinho’s first signings when he became Blues manager in 2013.

Mourinho saw an £80million deal for the 23-year-old midfielder collapse in the summer.

But he went to see him play twice in the recent international break and is seemingly determined to bring him to Old Trafford.

Most of the biggest clubs in Europe have been linked with a move for the in-demand youngster, including Real Madrid and Juventus.

But The Sun claim Mourinho’s relationship with Kezman could put United in pole position.

The fee could exceed the club-record £89m the Red Devils paid to re-sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016.

Pogba’s own future remains unclear after a public bust-up with Mourinho that saw him stripped of the vice-captaincy.

Milinkovic-Savic is a similar sort of player and could come in as a replacement for the Frenchman, 25.

Pogba is one of a number of players who are reported to have requested a transfer if the Portuguese is still in charge come the end of the season.

A whopping 11 players are out of contract in the summer, although United do have the option of extending the current deals for David de Gea, Anthony Martial, Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian.

United chiefs are increasingly hopeful that De Gea will pen a bumper new deal.

The Spanish keeper has insisted he is happy at the club and reports claim his representatives are ‘confident’ of coming to an agreement.

Luke Shaw is another key player whose deal is set to expire but negotiations are ongoing.

Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Andreas Pereira are all also entering the final months of their contracts.