53-year-old Mourinho this week agreed to take over from Louis van Gaal on a three-year deal and has been tasked with bringing the glory days back to Old Trafford.
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However, United are nearly certain to hand Mourinho an unprecedented wad of cash for the summer transfer window, with some sources speculating an eye-watering £270million budget.
“The Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho (22 trophies) battling it out with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola (21 trophies)”.
“He’s not my kind of cup of tea”. (The fans) know what they can give me and what I can give them.
Souness also believes that Mourinho simply has to get everything right at United, or risk seeing the team plummet even further down the table.
“I’ve come up against Jose for previous teams before, he’ll get a great reception when he comes back to (Stamford) Bridge, for sure, but first and foremost we have to really look at ourselves this year and start fighting for the title again”. I think what the fans are expecting me to say is that I want to win.
“I want to win”, added Mourinho.
Mourinho’s excitement to be taking over a club with a “mystique and a romance” is clear, as is his desire to revive United’s ailing fortunes.
“It is a club known and admired throughout the world”.
The former England global, who won 78 caps for his country, backed Roy Hodgson’s side to impress at the European Championships in France this summer.
United’s fifth-place finish under Van Gaal this season meant they failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second time since Ferguson left.
Chelsea will also have a new face in charge for next season after Antonio Conte was appointed Mourinho’s successor earlier this year.
No confirmation on the fate of the rest of his predecessor’s backroom team has yet been forthcoming, but Mourinho is expected to bring in his own staff. He wouldn’t have been in 26 if I didn’t think he had a chance.
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And Schmeichel is quietly confident that the Portuguese doesn’t believe that he is bigger than Manchester United.
