The Spain midfielder was jettisoned by Mourinho at Chelsea in January 2014 despite being a darling of the crowd, having won the Player of the Year award in his two previous seasons at the Stamford Bridge club.
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Manchester United were yesterday locked in a second day of talks with Jose Mourinho’s agents, hammering out a deal to sweep the Portuguese into Old Trafford.
According to multiple reports, negotiations between United and Mourinho have stalled due to the manager’s image rights.
But it has emerged that Chelsea still own the “Jose Mourinho” name as a trademark – meaning United may need to pay a six-figure sum for the rights.
Guardiola will instead take over at Manchester City next season.
“I have a great relationship with Mourinho and we are in contact, but not in the last weeks – we have been talking for many years”. When he first started off, when he took Porto to the Champions League final and won it, that was remarkable. The young players at United will play if Mourinho sees fit, but as at Chelsea there will be no special dispensation.
His backroom staff is unchanged and will include such veterans as Rui Faria, head of angry confrontations, and Silvino Louro, the more diplomatic goalkeepers coach, as well as the fitness coach Carlos Lalin. “If I want to make it, I’ll make it. If I want to do it, I’ll do it. I’m not anxious at all”.
What stylistic differences could be expected between Mourinho and Van Gaal?
But there is no doubt King Louis has left a legacy behind at United and in future years, his two-term spell could be looked back upon as the era in which the flowers of later success first began to sprout. European Union Intellectual Property Office records show that the London club owns the trademark for five classes of goods until March 31, 2025. This is supposed to get sorted out rather shortly, and the Mourinho announcement should be made over the course of the next few days.
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Sources close to Gary Neville suggest the England coach and former United defender would not be interested in returning to club as part of Mourinho’s backroom team, but the incoming boss is sure to want to bring in his own men.
