JOSE MOURINHO has offered £32.5million for Greek defender Kostas Manolas – as talks with Victor Lindelof hit a wall.
The Manchester United manager had looked set to sign Benfica defender Lindelof but the deal has not yet gone through.
Eager to strengthen his defence, Mourinho has now got the cheque book out for Roma star Manolas.
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The Portguese’s interest in the centre-back is nothing new.
Last May, when Mourinho started looking at which players he would like to sign, he paid special attention to Manolas and team-mate Alessandro Florenzi.
However, Roma are playing hardball and are reluctant to sell 25-year-old Manolas.
The Greek international, who joined the Serie A side from Olympiacos in 2014 for around £12.8m, has started two of his side’s past three games.
If Roma hold out then they may force the United board to dig deeper into their pockets in a bid to land Manolas.
Confusion has overshadowed Lindelof’s proposed transfer.
Benfica’s president was recently forced to confirm Lindelof does have a release clause in his contract.
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That has opened the door to the Red Devils making a move - but the upturn in form of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo could lead Mourinho to reconsider.
Any injury to the pair though may force the manager's hand and it is understood Roma would be willing to negotiate with the former Inter boss.
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