Manchester United were yesterday reported to have made a bid of £20m for the Portuguese international.

Porto’s Moutinho was one of the best players at Euro 2012 but United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has long been an admirer of the central midfielder.

Ferguson sees Moutinho as able to provide the much-needed creativity in the heart of the United midfield that was missing last season. In this respect, United have already signed Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund,

Porto are asking for closer to £26m and will also be reluctant to let the 25-year-old go if Brazilian forward Hulk completes his move to Chelsea.

The deal might also found another obstacle in new Tottenham manager Villas-Boas who had signed Moutinho from Sporting when he was Porto manager.

With Luka Modric bound for Real Madrid, the Portuguese manager views Moutinho as an ideal replacement.

However United remain favourites simply because Tottenham are not participating in the Champions League.