José Mourinho hopes to make José Fonte his fifth major signing of the summer, with the Manchester United manager keen to add the Southampton centre-back’s experience to his squad.

Fonte is 32 and and is under contract at the south coast club until 2018. The Portuguese has been offered a new deal by Saints but has yet to agree terms.

Mourinho already has Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and Daley Blind as central defenders but believes Fonte, a member of Portugal’s Euro 2016-winning squad, can bring a greater maturity to the position.

Mourinho thinks Fonte can aid the development of Bailly, the 22-year-old Ivory Coast centre-half who was bought for £30m earlier in this window. Bailly has impressed so far but he is young and inexperienced. During Friday night’s 2-0 win over Southampton Bailly made at least one mistake near David de Gea’s goal that might have led to United conceding.

Bailly and Blind have started United’s two Premier League matches as the central defensive partnership. However, Smalling was a late substitute in the win over Saints, having been suspended for the season-opener at Bournemouth. Rojo and Jones are yet to feature in the league under Mourinho.

Fonte has previously spoken of being pleased should United want to buy him. “If there’s interest, it’s a reason to feel flattered to be associated with a club like Manchester United,” he said. “It’s true that I’ve known Mourinho for many years. We’ve faced each other many times, he knows me well.”

Before joining Southampton six years ago Fonte was at Crystal Palace for two seasons, having previously played at Estrela Amadora and Paços Ferreira (both on loan), Benfica, Vitória Setúbal, Felgueiras and Sporting B, where he began his career in 2002. He has won 16 caps for Portugal, having made his debut in 2014, and played in four of his side’s seven games at Euro 2016, including the whole 120 minutes of the 1-0 victory against the hosts in the final.

In addition to Bailly, Mourinho has signed Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.