Manchester United transfer rumour: Red Devils target Derby County midfielder Will Hughes

Manchester United are considering a move to sign Derby County midfielder Will Hughes in the summer transfer window. The Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho is looking to improve the number of homegrown players and has set his sights on the 21-year-old.

The 20-time English champions have already completed deals to bring defender Eric Bailly and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Old Trafford. In addition to this, Borusisa Dortmund have confirmed they have agreed a fee with United to allow their midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan to move to England.

The Sun reports that after securing the services of three key players, Mourinho has turned his attention to Hughes. He missed most of last season with a knee-ligament injury and returned to action in April.

The Premier League giants have asked to be informed about the midfielder's progress at the Championship side. He featured in both legs of the playoffs against Hull City. His side lost 3-2 on aggregate ending their chance to seal a promotion to the Premier League.

His contract at iPro Stadium runs down in two years' time and Derby value him around £7m ($9.3m). The Portuguese tactician believes the midfielder could be part of the first team squad and challenge for a place in the starting lineup.

Any move from United to sign Hughes will not be easy. Derby appointed Nigel Pearson as their new manager and the player has admitted that he is eager to work under the former Leicester City boss for the next season.

"I met him for the first time last Wednesday and we had a good chat," Hughes told Derby's official website.

"I'm really looking forward to working with him. He commands a lot of authority; he's been there and done it in this league and I think that was vitally important to us. He knows how tough it is in the Championship."