Celtic star Moussa Dembele emerges as January target for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho

Mourinho has watched Dembele in action on several occasions when he was at Fulham.

Manchester United are considering an approach in signing Celtic's star forward Moussa Dembele in the January transfer window. He joined the Scottish club from Fulham before the start of the 2016/17 campaign.

The 20-year-old's impressive club form saw him being picked for the France U21 side. He scored a brace, which included a brilliant free-kick in his national side's 3-2 win over England U21s. According to the Daily Mail, the Red Devils sent their scout David Friio to watch the player in action, who impressed against the young English side in a friendly fixture.

Jose Mourinho is an admirer of Dembele and has watched him in action while he was Fulham. This includes the Championship clash against Middlesbrough last term, which was before his move to Celtic.

He has been a key player for Brendan Rodgers' side in his first few months at the Scottish club. Dembele has already scored 14 goals in all competitions, which include three goals in the Champions League.

The Portuguese tactician has drawn similarities between the Frenchman and Didier Drogba. The latter moved to Chelsea during Mourinho's first spell at Stamford Bridge and went on to become the west London club's legend.

Dembele moved to Celtic Park from Fulham for a fee of £500,000 ($621,450) last summer. However, the Bhoys are not willing to allow their player in the mid-season transfer window, even though there is a substantial increase in his price tag.

United are not the only club interested in securing his services. The Daily Mail claims that the Red Devils' arch rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, along with Bayern Munich are also looking at the option of signing Dembele.

Former Fulham manager Kit Symons managed Demeble at Craven Cottage and the former has claimed the forward would cost at least £20m ($24.8m) in the current market.

"£20m? In the current market he's worth at least that, already. The way football is going he could eventually prove to be worth anything more," Symons was quoted as saying by the Daily Record.

" Celtic got him on the cheap, there's no two ways about it, but the people at the Fulham academy can still be very proud of the part they've played in Moussa's development."