Up to now we had all assumed that Jose Mourinho taking over at Old Trafford from Louis van Gaal at the end of the season was a done deal was a done deal.
Reports coming out of Spain today are questioning whether a not a deal will come to conclusion despite the 52-year-old Portuguese trainer supposedly having a gentleman’s agreement with the club.
The former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager has been out of work since Chelsea terminated their contact with him before Christmas following the title holder’s dismal start to the season.
According to Spanish radio station Cadena Cope Manchester United owners the Florida based Glazer family are stopping a deal going through after having heard several members of the club board express their opinions as to whether or not Mourinho is the right man for a club like United.
Add to this a story from the Daily Mirror that suggests LVG is planning ahead for next season, and you start to wonder if in fact the club has decided to keep the Dutchman on for the final year of his contract.
As things stand right now the 64-year-old is actively planning the clubs pre-season tour of China by limiting it to just eight days.
‘I am there for every step that is being made for next season and I decided that we would only go to China for eight days,’ he said.
‘I have been there before and I have also played myself in a tournament in Shanghai and we couldn’t train properly because of the air and the humidity.
‘We are going only because of commercial purposes.
‘As manager of Manchester United, I know that we have to do that.
‘But I have also made it that we are going for no more than eight days. After that, we are back again to train.’
These are hardly the words of a man who thinks he will be out of work in the summer, but the question remains as to what United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward will do should it become mathematically impossible to finish in fourth place and miss out on next seasons Champions League.
