Five Possible Destinations for Jose Mourinho
By Ryan Wrenn
1. Manchester United
So anyone who has made it this far into this list knew that this was coming. And they probably also know that Mourinho’s appointment at Manchester United is all but inevitable.
It was long rumored that Sir Alex Ferguson considered Jose Mourinho to be the heir apparent to his throne at United, though in the end the club had different ideas. Mourinho would return to England as Chelsea’s manager and went on to win the club’s first Premier League title since 2010.
United, meanwhile, have suffered through the morass of David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal’s tenures. Neither manager could possibly hope to fill Ferguson’s shoes at the club, and the results have been less than favorable even if United qualified for the Champions League last season.
Mourinho’s falling out with Chelsea this season paralleled a slow-burning crisis at United. The once-pragmatic Van Gaal had resorted to a brand of possession football that looked stale compared to unlikely title contenders Leicester City and Tottenham. Crowds at Old Trafford begged for goals that never came, and United slowly found their grip on the top four slip.
So it’s been no surprise that Mourinho was rumored to be angling for his rightful place on the United throne almost immediately after being let go by Chelsea. There have been whispers of letters written to United’s ownership, as well as hints from Mourinho himself that he’d prefer to stay in England rather than return to Spain.
Perhaps the biggest clue of Mourinho’s future, however, lies in disappointing results like United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.