Despite his protestations, Jose Mourinho really should be looking to sign a centre-back following Marcos Rojo’s injury set-back. The length of time the Argentine will miss is as of yet unknown, but even before he limped out of the weekend FA Cup win over Reading, there were links aplenty with Benfica’s Victor Lindelof.However, with the supposed move for the Swede stalling, The Sun have now weighed in by revealing that Kostas Manolas of Roma is a £47.6m target for this month, amid Mourinho’s apparent interest in the Greek ace.

Although that’s a lot of cash to be throwing down midway through the season – especially when Man United’s summer spending spree cost them around £150m – there are long-term doubts over Chris Smalling and Phil Jones’ quality, while Eric Bailly has only been in English football for a few months, so his ability to transition properly is unknown, even though he has looked good so far.

Manolas, we think, is a better option than Lindelof, and here are THREE reasons why…

Better record this season

Mourinho likes his defenders to be defenders. Although he's coached rearguard players that have shown attacking qualities – Lucio, Ricardo Carvalho and Sergio Ramos, for example – his greatest successes have been with John Terry, Marco Materazzi, Walter Samuel and Pepe, among others, who are very much at ‘defence comes first’ centre-backs.

Even Phil Jones has come back into the fold under ‘Mou’ this term, so of the two, Manolas and Lindelof, it seems that the Greek ace has the edge. Indeed, this season the Roma man has out-shone his Swedish counterpart in just about every defensive measure in league action, while his all-round style is more akin to Mourinho’s demands.

More experience

While not a vastly experienced player, Manolas has already played for two of Europe’s biggest clubs in Olympiakos and Roma and boasts 27 international appearances. Lindelof has fewer than half that number of caps (eleven) and has only been at Benfica since 2012, and upon his arrival he spent time in their B team before making the step up to senior level in 2013.

In fact, Manolas has played almost three times the amount of top tier league matches as Lindelof at Roma alone, after emerging at AEK Athens and moving to Olympiakos, and won two league titles and two cups in his homeland.

Serie A > Primeira Liga

Even the most casual of European football viewers will be aware that Serie A is a more competitive and prestigious league than Portugal’s Primeira Liga. Although the Iberian nation’s rise has been solidified by their winning of Euro 2016, the Italian top tier boasts more elite-level teams and sits two places higher in the UEFA rankings.