Jose Mourinho will come back for Manchester United job

JOSE MOURINHO: The next United manager?

JOSE MOURINHO has targeted Manchester United as the ideal venue for a return to English football, and is optimistic that Sir Alex Ferguson will recommend him as his successor when he retires. Mourinho is in his second season at Internazionale, but does not see his long-term future in Italy, where the sport’s hierarchy has proved unreceptive to methods that have brought him five league titles in the past seven seasons.

Mourinho recently signalled his intention to return to English football given the right opportunity, stating that the Premier League is the place best suited to his style. “I am thinking about the future in terms of youth development and the age structure of my first team,” he said of his work with Inter, “but Italy is not the country for this. England is the country. And my football is English football.”

His prime target is the United job. Mourinho developed a strong personal relationship with Ferguson and has been given reason to believe the Scot will play a significant role in appointing his successor. While Ferguson, 67, has set no firm date for his departure, there have been indications that he will go after winning one more European Cup. He has said he will not be doing the job after the age of 70.

The only thing stopping from joining United for Jose is that his contract runs until 2012.

Mourinho’s interest in taking over United has affected his thinking on managing Manchester’s other club. He was asked twice last season if he would be prepared to replace Mark Hughes as the Manchester City manager, but declined both times!

The other strong contenders of the post are

1) Roy Keane- A strong push for promotion in his first year as manager with Sunderland the respect he commands in the Manchester United dressing room gives Roy Keane a good chance.

He lacks the experience though – should that count against such a distinguished and capable individual?

2) Carlos Queiroz- He is Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United and the closest in terms to the players. He has the necessary experience (the Real Madrid experience shouldn’t count against him) but do the fans trust him, and does the board want stability instead of the chance to bring in a manager who will improve as time goes by at Manchester United?

Do make your opionion heard via the Poll created on the right gadgets panel and post your lovely comments as always :)