Mourinho tells Woodward that he gaffed when Man Utd flew to Witsel

Jose Mourinho will do everything in his power to persuade Manchester United to sanction a contract with Axel Witsel after apparently expressing his frustration at their inability to land the Belgian last summer.

United's boss was on the market to recruit the player during the summer period, but executive vice president Ed Woodward persuaded the executive vice president to sign instead of Brazilian star Fred.

The thought process behind Woodward's decision to sanction a contract for Fred before Witsel was based solely on the age of the two stars. Fred, 25, preferred Witsel, 29.

But considering the Brazilian fight to make an impact at Old Trafford since a £ 52.5 million change from Shakhtar DonetskAccording to reports, Mourinho is willing to politely inform Woodward that he has flouted the decision to ignore Witsel and that it would always make sense to try to resurrect an agreement to bring him back to Old Trafford.

It's according to ESPN, who believe that Mourinho remains very eager to recruit a player, which cost Borussia Dortmund a £ 18 million bargain this summer from Tianjin Quanjian, of the Chinese Super League, after allowing his country to 39, reach third place in the World Cup.

They claim that Mourinho recently took part in the Belgian League of Nations clash between Belgium and Iceland to make a new check on Witsel – which won its 100th selection that night – and will now be a new approach from United.

Fred, Mourinho and Woodward still hope that, over time, the player will always play well at United. However, this is the Nemanja Matic's struggles United's midfielder this season is the main source of concern. According to some reports, the United coach would frantically try to persuade the club to have Witsel sign up to replace him.

Dortmund There are currently four points ahead of the Bundesliga summit. A transfer in January for the player is out of the question. But a summer raid for the player could be envisaged if Mourinho manages to convince United's board of directors that a contract with a player who turns 30 in January still has a financial sense.

And while United refused to sign for Witsel for an amount of £ 18 million this summer, the club would consider a cost almost twice as much as it would be when it launched a new bid at the end of the season.

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