Jose Mourinho: Mistake to focus on Man City’s Pep Guardiola

“I am looking forward to working with Mourinho”, he told NOS.

Whilst many would see this transfer as unrealistic, especially considering United are without Champions League football next season, the Red Devils will be boosted by news that Pogba has been informally placed on the transfer list.

They clashed more regularly when Mourinho joined Real Madrid, and their rivalry reached its peak in Spain.

“[What has happened in the past] does not allow me to be innocent”.

For Instance, Real Madrid believed in their former player Zinedine Zidane and in six months he won them their 11 Champions League medal as well as lead them to the brink of winning the La Liga title.

Giggs who has wanted to manage United for quite some time now has been twice overlooked for the job, namely after the sacking of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.

Giggs is now expected to follow the advice of a number of his former United team-mates, who have suggested the moment is right for him to severe his ties with the club in the hope of returning one day as manager.

Mourinho also side-stepped questions over whether he would make a move for Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the coming weeks, amid suggestions that the veteran striker has been offered a one-year contract to move to Old Trafford.

He said: “The level of the Premier League is going to get better with the players and coaches who will come”.

“In England there have been four different champions over the past four years”. However, he ruled out signing any player from his home country, saying: “No, I will definitely not take anyone (from Portugal) to Old Trafford”.

But Mourinho – who spent two years at Real Madrid in direct competition with Guardiola’s Barcelona – insists they can not afford to make next season a personal duel.

“That says a lot about the competitiveness (of the Premier League)”, said Mourinho, comparing the situation with the German, French or Spanish leagues, dominated in recent seasons by Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona respectively.