I wrote back in December of last year and again in April that Jose Mourinho was going to be the next manager of Manchester United.
And United are officially going to confirm those stories with Jose Mourinho expected to be introduced as United’s third manager in the post-Fergie era next week.
With the arrival of Conte at Chelsea and Guardiola at City, plus Klopp already in place in Liverpool, United need a to manager who could convince the best players in the world to move to Old Trafford. Which is why I expect James Rodríguez and Zlatan Ibrahimović to join United this summer.
Despite spending £250m on new players, van Gaal’s era at Old Trafford has been disappointing. It has not been the results as much as the style of play that have infuriated United fans. Conservative side-to-side football is the antithesis of the Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson styles of football.
Although that charge could be levied at Mourinho, who expect for one brilliant season at Real Madrid is more known for anti-football than attacking football.
What the “Special One” does do though is win trophies, winning three league titles in his two spells at Stamford Bridge, as well as guiding Porto and Inter Milan to Champions League victories in 2004 and 2010 respectively.
He also led Real Madrid to the Spanish La Liga title in 2012, and his arrival will mean a mouthwatering resumption of his rivalry with former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard will take over at United’s arch-rivals Manchester City this summer.
It will be a fascinating summer in Manchester this summer with Guardiola and Mourinho both battling it out for the best players in the world as they both try and remake the squads of their new clubs.