Manchester United to help Jose Mourinho in signing two marquee players in summer

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is reportedly ready to help Jose Mourinho complete two marquee signings after the end of the 2017/18 season.

The 20-time champions of England have fallen behind their neighbours Manchester City in the title race. Pep Guardiola's side are unbeaten in the league and are the firm favourites to win the league at this stage of the season.

Mourinho's side are second in the table with 47 points after 22 games, 15 points behind leaders City. According to the Daily Mail, the Red Devils chief is ready to back the Portuguese tactician in the transfer market in order to close the gap between the two Manchester clubs.

United were aware that the signings made by former managers David Moyes and Louis van Gaal has not been sufficient to further improve the squad. A few of the players signed by the Dutchman, like Angel Di Maria, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Victor Valdes have already left the club.

Matteo Darmian, who was signed by Van Gaal from Torino in 2015, could also be heading towards the Old Trafford exit. The Italian international's agent has confirmed interest from the Serie A clubs for his client's services.

Woodward and other top officials at United are so far impressed by the progress made by the Red Devils under Mourinho. The club are also happy with the quality of the players brought by their current manager in the last two summer transfer windows.

The former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager has spent close to £300m ($405.4m) since he joined the club. However, Mourinho admitted in December that the money spent by United was "not enough".

"It is not enough - Manchester City are buying full-backs for the price of strikers. The price for big clubs are different to the price for other clubs," Mourinho had said, as quoted by the Evening Standard.

It is believed that the plans are already in place to bring in new marquee players to Old Trafford in the upcoming summer transfer window. Mourinho has also admitted that United are likely to bring in at least two midfielders to strengthen the squad.

"If, next summer, we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and Michael is a phenomenal player that, this season, he couldn't give us anything at all," United manager told the club's official website.

"He's in the end of his career so if, next summer, we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad - it's to replace Michael Carrick. So, to improve our squad in the midfield, we would need to buy two."