Cape Town - Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic is reportedly willing to lower his wage demands in order to secure a January switch to Manchester United.

The Juventus striker is rumoured to have snubbed a move to Old Trafford during the summer after the Red Devils refused to pay him Pound 300 000-per-week to turn down a lucrative offer to play his football in Qatar.

A move to the wealthy Gulf state failed to materialise, however, and so the former Bayern Munich star is desperate to quit Turin this January, with AC Milan reportedly also now talking to him.

It's understood the Croatian's representatives were recently back in contact with United and let it be known their client is willing to be more realistic, with wages closer to Pound 180 000-per-week being mooted.

That has certainly got Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thinking a deal can be revisited and he already knows Juve are looking for a relatively small fee of around Pound 9million to remove him from their top-heavy books.

The United manager is a massive admirer of the 33-year-old forward and has followed his career closely for a number of years, believing he can play a big role as a target man and also provide a strong voice in his dressing room.

The Red Devils are desperately short of quality forward options going into Sunday's huge Premier League clash against bitter rivals Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams.

Mandzukic has scored goals wherever he has been, managing 43 in 139 bit-part appearances for Juve, having not played a single game for the Old Lady so far this season.

United would obviously have reservations over how quickly he can get himself match-fit although Mandzukic has been working hard to show his potential suitors that won't be a problem.

The Manchester giants currently have the highest wage bill in England and are especially conscious of older pros looking for a final big payday, which has seemingly forced Mandzukic to rethink his demands.