Manchester United's board of directors have reportedly asked new manager Jose Mourinho to offload his surplus players before he can pursue signing Southampton defender Jose Fonte or any other target player this summer.
The Mirror reported that Mourinho is currently "locked in a 'transfer stand-off' with the club's board" even as the 53-year-old Portuguese mentor "wants to sign Jose Fonte from Southampton". United's senior officials said to have told him that "he must offload a number of high-earning players before further transfer funds are made available to him".
England's summer transfer window is set to close on Sep. 1.
The Special One is said to be keen on acquiring his 32-year-old countryman, who is available from the Saints for £12million, as the coach believes that Fonte's experience will help the Red Devils' backfield a lot.
However, Red Devils executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had reportedly ordered Mourinho to "trim his squad and reduce United's huge wage bill" before making any more summer moves.
The club had also just finished buying French midfielder Paul Pogba for a world transfer record fee of £89.3 million earlier this month.
Mourinho is reportedly looking at defender Marcos Rojo and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger as dispensable in his current roster and so they are being dangled by the club for a bargain price at the moment.
However, the two players prove to be difficult to sell because they both command such high wages that only big clubs could afford.
The report also noted that aside from Rojo and Schweinsteiger, United is also offering defenders Phil Jones and Matteo Darmian to would-be takers.
Meanwhile, The Sun indicated that Schweinsteiger does not want to leave the Old Trafford even if he was placed in the reserve squad as the German World Cup-winner wants to finish the remaining two years in his contract with the English club before deciding on a move.
Mourinho had reportedly told the 32-year-old eight-time Bundesliga champion that he has no future with United at the moment, especially after the signing of Pogba made him drop further down the pecking order in the Red Devils' midfield.
With Schweinsteiger staying, United must now pay him £17 million in the next two seasons as a reserve player.
