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Manchester United stalling over sporting director appointment amid doubts over Jose Mourinho

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Ed Woodward is reluctant to recruit such a key role while United are struggling (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United are stalling over appointing a sporting director due to the uncertainty that continues to surround manager Jose Mourinhos future, according to reports.

The Portuguese remains under pressure despite an excellent victory away to Juventus in the Champions League, with derby defeat to rivals City leaving them 12 points off top spot after as many games.

Mourinho has long wanted United to hire someone to assist with transfers, but the Daily Record report that Ed Woodward is reluctant to bring in anyone while Mourinho is in charge.

Lille's new player, Dutch forward Ricardo Kishna (C) holding his jersey bearing the number 10 poses for pictures with Lille's director Marc Ingla (L) and Lille's Portuguese head coach Luis Campos during a press conference at the training grounds of French first division L1 football club Lille OSC (LOSC) near Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on February 2, 2017. / AFP / DENIS CHARLET (Photo credit should read DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images) — Campos, right, has bought extremely well at Monaco and Lille (Picture: EPA)

The stand-out candidate for the role is Luis Campos, who Mourinho actually hired as a talent scout at Real Madrid and who oversaw Monacos incredible squad build that almost won the Champions League.

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He was responsible for signing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, from AS Brondy back in 2013, while another excellent period of recruitment at Lille has seen them rise to second in the table.

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However, Woodward is reluctant to hire such a significant ally of Mourinho during a period in which he faces serious questions over his suitability as manager of Manchester United.

Despite being offered forward for the position, Woodward declined to interview Campos and now looks set to reassess the need for a sporting director figure until the summer – or such time as Mourinho has left the club.

Woodward wants to hold off on overhauling Uniteds transfer team (Picture: Getty)

When United took on Juve, Mourinho made a point of applauding the Italian sides transfer business, though insisted that was not a dig at how Woodward conducts business.

He explained: My thoughts are that I am not going to discuss with you the way that I think Manchester United should be organised. One thing is to compliment Juventus, and another is to give you my opinion on how Manchester United should or shouldnt be organised at that level.