Jose Mourinho eyes £40million Joao Mario to replace Henrikh Mkhitaryan at Man Utd

Mkhitaryan made his first start for United since early November in yesterday's match against Southampton.

But the Armenia international was unable to affect the result of the match as the Red Devils settled for a 0-0 draw.

Having fallen out of favour under Mourinho, Mkhitaryan has since been linked with a move away from Old Trafford.

Inter are said to be keeping a close eye on the former Borussia Dortmund star's situation.

And United want to raid the Serie A club for Mkhitaryan's replacement.

That's according to The Sun, who claim Mourinho wants Mario to bolster his midfield options.

The Portugal international joined Inter for £40m in 2016 after helping his country win Euro 2016.

And it is reported the Italian club will want not be willing to listen to any offers below what they paid for him.

Jose Mourinho wants to bring Joao Mario to Old Trafford

Inter boss Luciano Spalletti recently admitted Mario is not happy with life in Milan but went on to state the midfielder is yet to hand in a transfer request.

"So he's not happy now, but he's trained well and all I care about is that he's professional every day and he's doing that," Spalletti said.

"If I saw a blatant bad attitude it's clear we'd address that problem straight away, because I'd be the first to highlight it."