Manchester United: Jose Mourinho to prioritise signing a new striker

Jose Mourinho is now unlikely to sign a left-back in this transfer window, and is becoming more concerned with devoting that area of his budget to a back-up for Romelu Lukaku.

Manchester United have had long-standing interest in both Alex Sandro of Juventus and Kieran Tierney of Celtic and, with Luke Shaw having repeatedly struggled to assert himself, the manager had been expected to push for an upgrade.

The Independent has now been told that Mourinho is prepared to put off a signing in that area and stick with Shaw and first-choice Ashley Young, the latter of whom was one of United's best performers last season.

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The Portuguese does want a direct back-up for Lukaku, however, and are currently monitoring options.

While United have a number of options who can play instead of the Belgian - such as Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez - all have different qualities, and Mourinho wants a player who is more like-for-like and can offer the same physicality.

This is why the manager had been looking at West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic and Juventus' Mario Mandzukic, but the club are still exploring options.