The Manchester United manager is determined to sign a dominant holding midfielder this summer to succeed Michael Carrick and bring the best out of Paul Pogba.
Tottenham’s Eric Dier is another target – but there is an acceptance among Old Trafford’s hierarchy that negotiating with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy could be too problematic.
Matic is considered a more attainable target in a summer when Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is expected to make significant additions to his Premier League title winners.
Mourinho is set to spend in the region of £200m on a squad that will finish sixth this season and have recorded United’s lowest ever win total in the Premier League era.
He plans to buy at least one centre back, a midfielder and two forwards.
Burnley defender Michael Keane is a £25m target, while United are expected to trigger Antoine Griezmann’s £85m buyout clause at Atletico Madrid.
Another Chelsea player, Willian, has also been linked with a move to United.
Matic was a key figure in Mourinho’s most recent title triumph two years ago.
The then Chelsea manager convinced the club to spend £21m to re-sign the Serbian international, who had been used as a makeweight in David Luiz’ move to Benfica in 2011.
But it proved an inspired piece of business as Matic provided the anchor to Cesc Fabregas in the title-winning campaign of 2015.
N'Golo Kante is now seen as the heartbeat of Chelsea’s midfield, providing belief at Old Trafford that Conte would be prepared to sell Matic at a price likely to be in excess of £40m.
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