Man United have Napoli as rivals in £18million race for Benfica full-back Alex Grimaldo
Jose Mourinho given green light by Benfica chief executive to pursue interest in their talented young left-back
MANCHESTER UNITED have been told that Benfica will listen to offers for full-back Alex Grimaldo.
Napoli are also interested but reports in Portugal claim Jose Mourinho is poised to bid for the 22-year-old.
The United boss is very keen to strengthen the squad in this area given his problems with Luke Shaw, Daley Blind and Matteo Damian.
He has faith in Ashley Young but, at 32, he is hardly one for the long term.
Grimaldo is a product of Barcelona's La Masia academy and, since joining Benfica in 2015, has been a key part of their starting line-up.
Mourinho is keen and both he and Napoli will have been delighted to hear Benfica chief executive Domingos Oliveria proclaim to IB Times UK:
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"All of the Benfica players have a certain market. Now you have some differences, the oldest guy we have in the team is Julio Cesar who is 38 years old and youngest is Miles Svilar who is 18.
"The players with over 30 years, it is difficult to transfer them although for example Jonas, our best striker, when we hired him he was already 30.
MOUR LEFTIES Manchester United transfer targets include Gareth Bale, Mesut Ozil, Antoine Griezmann and Danny Rose
"But for a player who is 25, 26, 27, or younger at 22, 23, 24, there is a huge market.
"I am not talking specifically about Grimaldo, but all players with those conditions, they have a market.
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"We do not want to close the door to anyone. We don't want to force them to stay here. We want them to stay as long as they can.
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"And while they are here they are happy, but once both parties agree on a transfer, usually the player leaves but as mentioned before, leave with a good relationship with the club."
United have also been linked with Benfica's young goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
Ironically, his lapse gifted United victory in the Champions League last month.