Manchester United: Jose Mourinho to make Karim Benzema his primary target for the summer

Jose Mourinho wants to sign Karim Benzema from Real Madrid in a bid to end Manchester United's goalscoring woes next season when the Portuguese manager takes over at Old Trafford. The Red Devils had their most profligate season in the Premier League in the recently concluded campaign and Mourinho believes that a striker in the ilk of Benzema will add some much needed impetus to their frontline.

The Independent believes that Mourinho has made Benzema his priority for the summer despite talk of him signing Zlatan Ibrahimovixc on a free once the Swede's contract ends with Paris Saint-Germain. Mourinho knows that it will be very difficult to pry the Frenchman away from Real Madrid but his relationship with the 28-year-old should make it easier for the manager to initiate talks with the player.

Benzema served under Mourinho for three years, from 2010 to 2013, when he was the manager of Madrd, winning the La Liga and scoring 79 goals in 150 appearances. Mourinho has since travelled to Chelsea, were he won the Premier League title, but was sacked the next season after his team were struggling in the relegation zone. Arsenal were also interested in the striker but failed to make any headway in that regard as he snubbed a move to north London last season to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has already set about choosing other targets and is likely to make a plunge for Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic along with Everton defender John Stones in the summer. The Blues are unlikely to let Matic leave for cheap while the Toffees are also likely to charge a premium for their star player.

Mourinho will reportedly be given a £200m ($390m) warchest to spend in the summer which should cover his expenses for whatever additions he has to make to the squad. Meanwhile, clubs around United are also looking to strengthen, with Arsenal all but completing a deal for Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach.