Birmingham City interested in signing Manchester United striker Wilson

Championship club Birmingham City are interested in signing James Wilson on loan from Manchester United, according to reports.

Sources close to Birmingham told ESPN that manager Gary Rowett was looking to bolster his attacking options after the goalless draw against Cardiff City in the club's first Championship game at the weekend.

Jose Mourinho has suggested he wants to trim the size of his playing squad at Old Trafford, with Wilson, Adnan Januzaj, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Andreas Pereira, Will Keane, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair all likely to leave this summer.

Wilson spent last season on loan at Brighton, scoring five goals in 27 Championship appearances.

Several Championship clubs are interested in signing the 20-year-old striker on loan, ESPN says.

Mourinho reportedly feels he has enough options in attack with Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford. All four strikers featured in United's 2-1 win over Leicester City in the Community Shield yesterday (7 August).

Pogba move

Meanwhile, United are close to finalising a world-record deal for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba for a reported transfer fee of £89m ($116m, €105m).

Speaking to MUTV after the Community Shield win, Mourinho said OId Trafford offered the perfect stage for the 23-year-old Frenchman to continue to develop his game.

"If you want to be the best player in the world, I think if you go to Barcelona, to Real Madrid, you are in trouble because I don't think the other big guys will let you into that level," he said.

"Here he has the conditions – the most seen championship worldwide which is absolutely incredible, with a team that wants to bring Man United to the top again.

"So we have everything to give him and we know the reasons why he wanted to come to us.

"He comes because he knows the club, he knows the city, he knows many of the players, he wants to be an important part of the Man United project so hopefully everything goes well and he comes to our team," the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan manager added.