Talks initiated as Mourinho lining up £50million Roma raid

Oli Fisher
Kostas Manolas and Alessandro Florenzi: Linked with United

Kostas Manolas and Alessandro Florenzi: Linked with United

Jose Mourinho has officially been appointed as Manchester United manager, and a Roma duo are understood to be high on his list.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, talks have been initiated between United and representatives of central defender Kostas Manolas, while SportMediaset claim that the Portuguese boss is interested in bringing in Roma winger Alessandro Florenzi.

They go on to state that Manolas would cost around £30m, with Florenzi valued at almost £20m.

Florenzi, 25, scored seven goals in Serie A for Roma this season helping them to a third-placed finish, as well as a goal in the Champions League.

Sky Sport’s Manuele Baiocchini and Paolo Assogna state that United made contact with Manolas’ camp “during the weekend of May 14th,” and the Red Devils are happy to meet the Giallorossi’s aforementioned valuation.

David Amoyal of DiMarzio claims Roma may have to initially send Manolas to United on loan, as a sale before September 1 would see them lose half of his £30 million fee to his former club, Olympiakos.

Manolas, understood to be Mourinho’s main priority at centre-back, admitted that another United target is the best player he’s played against.

“Zlatan Ibrahimović, no doubt about it [is the best]. I played against him twice in the 2013-14 Champions League as Olympiacos were in the same group as PSG. He’s the best player I’ve faced.”

The Greek international has a history with Manchester United, as he recalled last month in an interview with the Roma official site.

“My favourite game so far was when I was playing for Olympiacos in the Champions League and we beat Manchester Utd 2-0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens.

“It was the first leg of the round-of-16 stage in the 2013-14 season. We put in a fantastic performance and ended up beating a really strong side. I must have done pretty well on a personal level too, seeing as I was up against Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney.”