Manchester United are willing to spend as much as €40 million on Benfica attacking midfielder Anderson Talisca, currently on loan at Besiktas according to A Bola.

Per the source, Jose Mourinho has put a ‘reserve’ on the player he has long admired.

Mourinho was famously involved in a public spat with former Benfica manager Jorge Jesus over who discovered the 1.91m tall player first.

Speaking to Portuguese broadcaster TVI24 [via Daily Mail] in 2014, Mourinho said: “I think Benfica hired well. They say Talisca is unknown, but he is only so unknown because he’s only not playing in England because he doesn’t have a work permit. If he had one, he would be here!

“There were many English teams, great teams and important, that wanted him. Moreover, there were those who wanted to sign him, even though he could not play for now.”

The report claims that talks between United and Benfica are underway.

United will however, face competition from Besiktas.

Black Eagles club president Fikret Orman confirmed that the club will try to sign Talisca on a permanent deal.

Orman said: “If Talisca wants to stay we want him to stay, we will try to sign him on a permanent deal.”

Besiktas would not be able to match United financially but do have the advantage of giving Talisca a home for the past two seasons.

The Brazilian has excelled under the stewardship of Senol Gunes and has 16 goals as well as four assists in all competitions this season.

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Talisca was called up to the latest Brazil national team side by Tite.

Should he make the World Cup squad he may be eligible for a work permit to play in the Premier League.

Permit system for non-EU players

According to the FA: Required % of international matches over previous 24 months is determined by the player’s National Association’s official FIFA ranking:

FIFA 1-10: 30% and above
FIFA 11-20: 45% and above
FIFA 21-30: 60% and above
FIFA 31-50: 75% and above

Reference period reduced to 12 months for those players aged 21 or under at time of application.

Talisca was also closely linked with United over the summer and admitted that he would like to work with Mourinho.

“I have a lot of respect for Jose Mourinho, he is an amazing manager and I have always said I would love to work with Mourinho,” Talisca said.

“I do not want to get into this debate about an offer being made or not, let’s just say if I were to receive that kind of offer you would all know about it.”