Sir Alex Ferguson's former right hand man Rene Meulensteen who coached talents like Paul Pogba, Lingard and Marcus Rashford while he was at United spoke exclusively to 888sport.com.
The Dutch coach who couldn't hide his admiration for French sensation and Monaco forward, Kylian Mbappe said;
“I like many of the players United have been linked to. But I really like Mbappe.
That would be brilliant though I don’t know how genuine the interest is," he said.
United have been linked to a host of big-name strikers but Meulensteen believes Mourinho should stay away from Everton star and Chelsea target Romelu Lukaku – and go all guns blazing for Real Madrid striker, Alvaro Morata if Mbappe is a no-go.
Meulensteen said:“Obviously Lukaku knows the Premier League and has played in the Premier League for many years.
“He has plenty of power but I’m not too sure he has the kind of DNA that we’d like to see at Manchester United.
“Morata is a good striker - he is mobile, agile, and creates chances. The same can be said of Andrea Belotti at Torino but both would be coming from abroad and would have to adapt to the Premier League which we all know is difficult.
“If Belotti comes in it’s important that he scored early and get the monkey off his back. Then he could be a good fit.
“For me though it would be Morata. We haven’t seen enough of him lately but then again it is extremely hard to get into that Real Madrid team.”
However, the Dutchman wouldn't want any acquisition by Mourinho to impact negatively on England star Rashford.
“I like Marcus and I’ve worked with him when he was a little kid coming in to the Cliff at seven years of age. He came in with a smile and left with a smile.
“He couldn’t wait to start training and training was always short for him. There was only one level of energy that he would bring.
“I bumped into him recently at Michael Carrick’s testimonial and we had a chat.
"He’s still got those things and that’s important because as a professional you get exposed to a lot and you need stability in your life.
“I’m so happy that he has already got so many games at United and he’s only going to get better the more that he plays and the more things that he gets exposed to.
“But a lot depends on what type of striker Mourinho brings in. If they spend a great deal of money on someone there might be a chance that Marcus is again shifted out to the left or right.
“He can play there for sure but his best position is up front. I really hope that any new signings don’t sideline Marcus completely because that would be a real shame.”
Meulensteen emphasised that United should be competing for the League title, even though Mourinho's style isn't aligned with Ferguson's swashbuckling DNA.
“United must be competing for the Premier League and be competing again for the Champions League. It is very important that they have a good start next season to make sure they’re going to be there or thereabouts in the title fight.
“The style of football next season depends on what kind of players he brings in to bolster the squad.
Mourinho knew the squad wasn’t the finished article so he went about things the right way to ensure they made it to the Europa League final and to win that trophy.
“Now he will be looking to bolster the squad and he will know that United fans expect not only to compete to win games but also to play an expansive brand of football.
“I don’t think he will ever be as expansive as Sir Alex Ferguson was because that’s not in his DNA.
He is more calculating and weighs things up to win and if that means a brand of unexciting football he would still happily pick up the points.
“He is not after the plaudits for having fantastic style. Fans will be happy if they’re winning and challenging for the title.
“But they will always want more and again it depends who comes in because if they sign attack-minded players by definition that will result in a more expansive style.”
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