Jose Mourinho drops hint about new job

His comments come less than a fortnight after a dismal loss to Southampton that saw United and Van Gaal booed at Old Trafford and intensified speculation over his future.

Guardiola was named the successor to Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, and the former Barcelona manager will take charge of the Citizens in the summer. Also because I’ve experimented with English, Spanish and Italian football – the three top football leagues in the world.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had dismissed reports linking former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho with his job.

Van Gaal added: “The aim here is still the same – to qualify for the Champions League and to finish one step higher than previous year”.

These sentiments were echoed by midfielder Jesse Lingard after United produced one of their best displays of the season to beat Stoke 3-0 in the Barclays Premier League in midweek.

Louis van Gaal has challenged Juan Mata to keep up his impressive performances in the number 10 role if he is to stay there ahead of Andreas Pereira. “But for sure, I will be back soon”.

Too bloody right. It would appear that a contrite text is pretty much the length and breadth of player accountability these days.

“We train still the same, the same way”.

In the Mirror, there’s a story that Louis van Gaal is disagreeing with the reason that Wayne Rooney, Jesse Lingard and others gave for their recent improvement.

“I always say I need competition – I need competition every week”, the Portuguese, 53, told the Mail on Sunday.

“We are in a very good mood”. “That is also for Jesse Lingard”.

Jose Mourinho is desperate to return to management and has indicated he will remain in England, in his first interview since leaving Chelsea.

Maybe you remember that. “I can have everything I love at the same time”.

The United manager, whose side faces a last-32 tie in the competition against Danish champions Midtjylland later this month, said: “He can play the final, that is a goal that he has to live for”.

Mourinho is believed to prefer to take over in the close season when he can start with a clean slate, rather than inheriting van Gaal’s problems with no chance of changing the squad now that the transfer window has shut.