Jose Mourinho has been linked with a shock return to Manchester United just over five years after he was sacked by the Old Trafford club towards the end of 2018.
Mourinho is currently out of work after being let go by Roma earlier this month and is seemingly looking for a way back into football.
The will appears to come from Mourinho’s side, with the Daily Mail reporting that the 61-year-old is “keen” to take charge at Old Trafford for a second time. The logic conveyed to the newspaper by a friend of Mourinho’s is that he has “unfinished business” at the club given how his first spell ended.
As such, it is claimed that the former Chelsea boss has “made it his mission” to become United manager again if the opportunity were to arise in the future.
It seems unlikely to become reality, at least any time soon. Erik ten Hag is currently in the second season of a three year contract and there is a feeling of optimism among fans that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS contingent taking control of sporting operations will enable the Dutchman to succeed.
Mourinho was United’s third permanent manager following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement when he was hired in 2016, replacing Louis van Gaal shortly after the club had won the FA Cup.
With his presence, the club were able to attract Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba to Old Trafford that summer and United won both the Carabao Cup and Europa League in his first season.
After recording a disappointing sixth place Premier League finish, which was actually a step back on Van Gaal, United kicked on in 2017/18 to finish second behind runaway Manchester City. It was the club’s highest placing since the Ferguson era – matched since only by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020/21 – and remains the sole time United have reached 80 points in the last ten seasons.
Ultimately, Mourinho’s reign came to an abrupt end in the first half of the following season. The internal friction regarding failure to land key transfer targets amid other personnel issues was evident in his demeanour during pre-season in 2018, with the United hierarchy failing to build on the success of 2017/18 by signing only Fred, an unknown Diogo Dalot and back-up goalkeeper Lee Grant.
He was reported to be on the brink ahead of United’s game against Newcastle in the October, which turned into a 3-2 comeback win after going 2-0 down. But the axe fell just over two months later when a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield capped a run of one win in six league games.
