Manchester United have received a major boost in their bid to sign Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich after the Bundesliga outfit decided to lower the asking price from £30.5m ($39m) to £23m ($29.4m).

The Red Devils were hot on the trail of the Portuguese midfielder last summer but lost out to the Bavarian giants. He joined Bayern from Benfica and admitted later that the German club had showed more desire during their pursuit than United, which was the reason he snubbed a move to Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho is a big admirer of his compatriot and wanted to make him his first signing before he took over the reins at United last summer. According to the Sun, the Red Devils boss still maintains an interest in signing the midfielder and could make a move this summer, especially with Bayern willing to sell him for £7m less than originally planned.

It is claimed that Carlo Ancelotti, who went all out to sign Sanches last summer, feels that he will not make the grade at the club and is no ready to offload him to interested suitors. The Portugal international's place in the team was put further in doubt after Bayern spent a club record fee to sign Lyon's defensive midfielder Corentin Tolisso as a long-term replacement for Xabi Alonso, who retired at the end of last season.

The 19-year-old midfielder made only six starts in the Bundesliga last season could consider an exit despite only signing for Bayern last summer. Mourinho is said to be interested in signing him and partnering him with Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba at the heart of United's midfield.

Renato Sanches
Bayern Munich willing to allow Renato Sanches to leave the club after just one season Getty

The Portuguese manager has made signing a defensive midfielder a priority this summer after completing the signing of Victor Lindelof to shore up his defence and the 20-time English champions have been linked with a number of candidates. AS Monaco's Fabinho is among those on the manager's list after he admitted that he would consider a potential move to United, while Chelsea's Nemanja Matic is also high on Mouinho's wanted list.