MANCHESTER -- Jose Mourinho has revealed Manchester United are "close" to agreeing a new deal with Arsenal matchwinner Marouane Fellaini.
Fellaini is out of contract at Old Trafford at the end of the season and has attracted interest from China, Turkey, Italy and France.
But after coming on as a second-half substitute to head in a stoppage-time winner against Arsenal, Mourinho suggested the midfielder could stay.
"The position is that we are almost there but in football almost is not enough," the United manager told a news conference after the 2-1 win. "I think we are almost there but I can't say because almost is not enough.
"I want to see the white paper with the United crest and Ed Woodward's signature."
United suffered an injury scare against Arsenal after Romelu Lukaku, who made the first goal for Paul Pogba, was forced off with an ankle injury.
Mourinho's team have three more Premier League games before the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 19 and the the Portuguese coach would not be drawn on whether he expects the striker to be fit for the Wembley showpiece.
He said: "Three more weeks until the final and I don't know yet. I don't know, I hope it is not something that keeps him immediately out of a game that is in three weeks time but I don't know.
"When a player is injured I'm not immediately going for good or bad news."
Three points against Arsenal guaranteed United will play Champions League football next season. Another four points from games against Brighton, Bournemouth and Watford before the end of the season would also secure second place in the table and their highest finish since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
"I think if you finish second it is the first time for five years," Mourinho said. "If we finish second, OK progress, OK progress at many levels but not enough to be first instead of second and not enough to win the Champions League instead of the Europa League but enough to finish second, to be stable, to reach some finals but we need more."
Mourinho felt United were fortunate to snatch an added-time winner but believes they deserved their victory.
"I think if it was a draw, it wouldn't be unfair," he told Sky Sports. "I think they had a good game. We were a bit lucky to score in the last couple of minutes but we were stronger in the last 20.
"We were the team that tried to win, we were the team that had a few more chances in the last 20 to 25 minutes.''
Arsene Wenger was given a positive reception at Old Trafford, with former adversary Sir Alex Ferguson making a presentation to the outgoing Gunners boss before the game.
"I think we did it fantastically well as a club," Mourinho added. "I thought it would mean more for Sir Alex to come down than myself because as a United manager I played against Mr Wenger three or four times over a couple of years.
"The big rivalry in the history of both clubs was between them so I thought it was for Sir Alex to come.''
Paul Pogba, who scored United's first goal, felt they deserved their win, telling Sky Sports: "I think, yeah. We had a lot of chances, we were pushing, Fellaini came on and we know his ability, his quality in the box. We crossed it and he was there to put it in.
"The team played well, that's the most important thing. I feel very good, the team feels very good. We play and we try to get the points that we want and need, and that's it.''
Pogba is now eyeing a strong finish to the season, adding: "The perfect season would be [winning] the league, we didn't have it. We've been second for a long time, we want to be second and we have the [FA Cup] final.''
On his winner, Fellaini said: "I know my quality, I know if the ball comes into the box I can be dangerous. It was a good ball, I tried to flick it and it was a goal. It was good for me and good for the club.
"One point is not too bad but in the end we have three points, that's the most important today.''