Get the day's biggest United stories delivered straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jose Mourinho is set to step up his search for an influential new Manchester United figure to replace the Reds' old guard.

And the United boss may target a player he has previously worked with.

Last summer Mourinho brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly to put his stamp on the Reds squad, spending £150m in the process.

He got rid of Louis van Gaal buys Morgan Schneiderlin (to Everton), Memphis Depay (to Lyon) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (to Chicago Fire) in order to create his own side.

Phase two of Mourinho's Old Trafford revamp will kick in this summer and he has already said he he hopes to bring in a maximum of four new faces.

“We prefer to bring two, three, four players – but good players who feel the idea of the football we try to play, who can improve our squad,” he explained.

“We are not interested in selling six or seven, buying six or seven, but only two of them who can improve our squad. We are not going to play this game.

“Some players will leave, some players will come, but only in a very natural way.”

One 'natural' area Mourinho may have to address is the void that could be left by the departure of United's experienced core from the title-winning days of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Captain Wayne Rooney is expected to leave in the summer.

There has been no news on whether vice-skipper Michael Carrick will be given - or agree to - another 12-month extension to his contract.

Ibrahimovic has not yet decided whether to stay and Ashley Young is another 30-something whose future at the Reds is not clear.

Their exits would leave a significant hole for Mourinho to fill.

The United manager likes players who will nail their colours to his mast which - the reason he brought in Ibrahimovic last summer.

“From a psychological point of view, the stronger the empathy is in our squad, the more consistent the relationship is between the players, and the more ready you are,” Mourinho has said.

“The 'mind game' which involves trying to manipulate someone psychologically via the media, is a way of creating a state of mind, but one that is most effective when you have a team full of personalities and one that is ready to absorb this sort of talk.

“At Inter, I was like a fish in water in this domain. I had Materazzi, Cordoba, Ibrahimovic, Milito, Thiago Motta… guys who were willing to follow me everywhere.

“The priority is to establish relationships founded on peace and love in the squad, to create stability. Manchester United no longer has the super personalities of Giggs, Scholes or Roy Keane.

“There is still Rooney and Carrick, who are the final faces of that generation, and a new group of players must adapt. That is why it was important for me to bring in Zlatan.

“In this team, he had, without being English, without knowing the culture of the club, the personality and the fit to be more than just a simple player.”

If Mourinho is after a player who will 'follow him everywhere', the chief executives of Chelsea and Real Madrid could be getting a phone call soon.

Get all the latest Manchester United news first with our new app. Download it here now.