Jose has to speak to Pog before selection

And he is optimistic of forming a productive relationship with new midfield signing Fred.

“From what I’ve seen in training, Fred is a player who always wants to get forward, he is always trying to get forward,” he said of the Brazilian.

“From a personal point of view I think we’ll be able to combine well and it will be good for my game.”

Mourinho, meanwhile, is set to face Leicester with six injuries and World Cup stars Paul Pogba, Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku only recently back in training following their time off after the tournament.

“You cannot have the players that arrived on the last Monday (before the season starts), after World Cup semi-finals, finals and three weeks of holidays, you cannot expect them to be fit,” the United boss said.

“Apart from that, we have some injuries.

“Some are expected and some are unexpected. Matic, we weren’t expecting him to be injured and needing a surgery after the World Cup.

“Diogo Dalot, we knew he had a surgery on his meniscus and we have to wait a couple of months before he is ready.” JOSE Mourinho overlooked speculation surrounding Paul Pogba’s United future by insisting the midfielder has worked ‘amazingly well’ since he returned to the club on Monday. Pogba enjoyed a three-week break following a triumphant World Cup with France, but his return to Manchester coincided with a flurry of reports suggesting he was intent on leaving the Reds, who have no intention of selling him. Mourinho said Pogba was ‘absolutely brilliant’ in the latter stages of France’s campaign in Russia, but added the Frenchman must ‘understand why he played so well’. “My perception? He arrived Monday, happy, proud, a desire to work,” Mourinho said. “He worked amazingly well Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.” And the Reds boss admits he has to speak to the Frenchman, along with several other late arrivals, to see if they are ready to face Leicester tonight. “I have to speak to see how physically and mentally he feels,” said Mourinho. “But it’s the same conversation as with Young, Fellaini, Lingard, it’s the same. To know how they feel physically mentally to try to give us a help. “If they feel they can help us, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, half-anhour. We don’t have many solutions and want to go with everything we have. “It’s an important match and every point is important. We have to try and get the best out of every player. “If they play, they play after four days (of training). “One thing is what you can expect from the players with a proper pre-season and another is what you expect from a player with three or four days training. “Of course I’d prefer to look to the bench and to have them rather than to have 16-year-oldboys without experience and without the power to be a Premier League player directly.”