Manchester United chiefs still see Paul Mitchell as their prime candidate for their first technical director.

The Mirror says Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino has been identified as the manager they want – and United will not be deterred by the £40m compensation package they will have to pay to land the Argentine.

The Reds are also looking to bring in the club's first director of football to avoid the kind of chaos over player recruitment that undermined Jose Mourinho's relationship with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Mitchell, who worked with Pochettino at Southampton and briefly at Spurs, is regarded as the outstanding candidate to fill that role.

Born in the United heartland of Salford, the 37-year-old is currently the head of recruitment at German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.