Manchester United are not fazed by the prospect of having to pay a world-record compensation fee to make Mauricio Pochettino their next manager.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager appears to be the man United want to succeed Jose Mourinho, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who will take his first training session on Thursday, installed as a caretaker manager until the end of the season.

Despite Solskjaer being a temporary appointment – with assistant Mike Phelan, who aided Sir Alex Ferguson, believed to be given greater influence than his role would suggest – United will press ahead with a plan to sign a central defender in the January window.

United are considering a move for Porto defender Eder Militao. The 20-year-old Brazilian international is not their only option but is regarded as far more attainable than Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, even though Porto have made it through to the last-16 of the Champions League. A fee of around £40 million has been discussed.

It could cost even more than that to buy Pochettino out of his contract at Spurs. Tottenham will fight hard to keep the Argentine who only signed a new five-year deal last May and which does not contain a release clause.