Manchester United eye Danny Rose after Tottenham player is dropped against Arsenal

Jose Mourinhho has made Danny Rose his prime target for January after the England full-back was not included in the Tottenham squad against Arsenal as the Lilywhites suffered a 2-0 defeat at the north London derby. Manchester United are willing to let Luke Shaw go the other way after the defender failed to get the nod back into the first team.

In a candid interview with the Sunin AugustRose, 27, criticised the club's lack of ambition in the transfer market and said he was open to offers elsewhere. The England international was fined two weeks' wages for the remarks, but he insisted that the controversy was behind him and that he continued to get along well with Mauricio Pochettino.

The Mirror reports that Mourinho can see an opening to take Rose away from White Hart Lane and are willing to pay a fee of £40m ($54m) along with Shaw as makeweight. Rose has returned from a knee injury which kept him out for 10 weeks.

The left-back has since made two appearances for Tottenham against West Ham United (EFL Cup) and Crystal Palace (Premier League) but Pochettino's decision to leave him out has opened the doors for a lot of speculation.

However, Pochettino said there is no issue with the defender, saying that both Rose and Erik Lamela just need to build their fitness following their long spells on the sidelines.

"He was training today. Like Lamela, after nearly one year they need to build their fitness," Pochettino clarified his position on Rose, as quoted by Football.London.

"No, [it's] not strange. It's strange when a player that is fit and plays regularly is out, but when you have been out for ten or 11 months out and then you start to play, sometimes the decision is it's better to train and prepare for the next game rather than be on the bench and perhaps not play and waste time.

"It's not the same when you need to prepare for a game, with training. Sometimes they need different types of training to get fit and build their fitness. That is what happened with him. Like Lamela was playing with the U23s. What happened? We need to focus on the game today. I am so disappointed about the game. I don't understand your question, sorry."