José Mourinho has revealed that there was a set plan for him to directly replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager after the Scottish legend retired in 2013, during a new Netflix documentary series about his career.
The Portuguese said he later had a change of heart and instead committed his future to Chelsea, where he had previously enjoyed a successful spell.
“When I left Real Madrid in 2013, I agreed with Manchester United to 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 to replace Sir Alex Ferguson.”
“I was very flattered, because Manchester United has an 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥. When I say Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world, I have to say that Manchester United is very, very close.”
“We offered him the job. I took him aside and explained the situation to him. From what I understood, he was on board. And then, in the space of a few hours, everything 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝.”
“One evening, he called me, he was 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 and said: ‘Alex, I’ve given my word to Chelsea and I’m not going to break it.’ I understood the reason, but I was 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
After the disappointment, Manchester United proceeded to appoint David Moyes, while Mourinho returned to Chelsea for his second spell.
Moyes lasted only 10 months as Manchester United manager and was sacked in April 2014, despite signing a six-year contract with the club. He managed 51 games, recording 27 victories and 15 defeats. United finished seventh in the Premier League, their worst finish in the Premier League era at the time.
Mourinho returned to Chelsea in June 2013 and stayed until December 2015, roughly 2½ years. In the 2013/14 season, Chelsea finished third in the Premier League and returned to Champions League football. The following season, Mourinho led Chelsea to the Premier League title and League Cup.
However, the beginning of the 2015/16 season was a major disappointment. Chelsea lost nine of their first 16 league games and were sitting 16th in the table when Mourinho was dismissed in December 2015.
Although Mourinho had turned down Manchester United in 2013, he eventually became the club’s manager in May 2016, succeeding Louis van Gaal. He remained at Old Trafford until December 2018, a little over 2½ years.
In his first season, despite finishing sixth in the Premier League, Mourinho won three trophies, the Europa League, League Cup and Community Shield.
In his second season, he guided United to second place in the Premier League, their best league finish since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, and secured Champions League qualification.
However, the beginning of the 2018/19 season was difficult. Mourinho struggled for results, tensions developed around the squad, and disagreements with players and the club’s hierarchy increased. He was eventually sacked in December 2018 following a poor run of results. His final game was a 3–1 defeat to Liverpool.
