According to some press reports, José Mourinho will leave Manchester United in the summer. He will take his travelling roadshow to Paris where he will challenge for the Champion’s League.
It’s as simple as that.
The problem is that the reasons given for his wanting to leave United are that he can’t compete with Manchester City and doesn’t get enough backing from the board. That simply is not true.
So, if that is the case José, then au revoir et bonne chance.
Manchester United have spent around £300 million since Mourinho joined in 2016 and the only player he wanted, but was unable to sign, was Ivan Perišić of Inter Milan. Whether that was due to Inter not wishing to sell him or Ed Woodward’s inability to do the deal is debatable, but it was still only ONE player.
In January, United will probably sign Antoine Griezmann who, at present anyway, doesn’t look anything like the player who initially attracted lots of interest.
So it would be unfair of Mourinho to say that he hasn’t had the backing of the board. Whether he has been told that, in future, he needs to sell before he can buy is another subject but is a fairly normal way of conducting business.
He has plenty of dead wood he could get rid of to bring in new, better players. Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard and Matteo Darmian are all below the level required for a team wishing to win the Premier League and Champion’s League titles.
He also has the added advantage of managing Manchester United. The name alone is enough to attract the best players. So what does he want?
If he really thinks he can’t compete with Guardiola then he is not the manager many people thought he was.
If all he wants is to manage the richest team, in a league he would win with ease every year, then he is not a good manager. Yes he could challenge for the Champion’s League with PSG but winning it with United would be a greater achievement!
When Manchester City need a new player, they usually go and buy one, but they are working under the same restrictions as United. They can only buy players during the two transfer windows and they can only buy players who are available. It is also true to say that they have the money to sometimes make unavailable players become available, but then so do United.
The new signings in the City team at present are Kyle Walker and Ederson. Benjamin Mendy is a long term absentee through injury and Bernardo Silva and Danilo can’t get regular game time so Guardiola is currently using two of his “brand new” signings. We can also include John Stones and Raheem Sterling along with Gabriel Jésus. These players would all be considered Guardiola signings.
Mourinho, on the other hand, has Lindelof available but doesn’t select him. He plays Lukaku, Matić and Bailly every game. As soon as Pogba returns from injury he will feature in every game and Mkhitaryan, despite playing abysmally for the last few games, is still a regular. He will soon have Zlatan Ibrahimović available as well. We can think of a few managers who would be happy to try and compete with these players in their squad.
And remember this, when manager of Chelsea, Mourinho, “excellent manager” that he is, sold Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Mata, Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku. (De Bruyne now being the main reason for Mourinho feeling that he can’t compete with City on the field)
If reports of him wishing to go to Paris are true then Mourinho is welcome to leave Old Trafford. Saying that he can’t compete with Manchester City is admitting his failings as a manager.
Guardiola, for example, chooses to field a team of footballers who are comfortable with the ball. Mourinho chooses to field a team of giants who are strong and powerful. Their styles are different but, if Mourinho thinks that City are a better team, then he has to change his style, that is what management is all about, being able to succeed no matter what the obstacle.
If he is going to run away from home because mummy and daddy won’t buy him the Premier League title and the Champion’s League then good riddance. We would rather have a MANAGER who wins through merit than a glorified scout with a very large chequebook.
Having said all that, the press reports are to be found in The Sun, so the chances of there being any substance to them are very remote.
The bottom line is this; United are a bigger club than City. They can match them financially if necessary. So the only level on which they could possibly be inferior is that of the manager. Is José Mourinho REALLY saying that he is not as good as Pep Guardiola? We doubt that very much.
Our advice is simple. Buy Griezmann in January and compete for the two major trophies along with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. In other words, do your job and MANAGE the players you have and stop worrying about other teams.
The grass may appear greener on the other side but, when you get there, it usually contains the same manure as the old stuff.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 
This is what irked me most about Mourinho his last time at Chelsea. He promptly sells my favorite player (Mata, to ManU no less) and his new additions don’t ever make it onto the pitch. De Bruyne saw virtually no time and Andre Schurrle always came on in the dying moments of a game.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around all the rumors that circulate in this league. Is a move to PSG really a thing? Further, is this just the start of his natural exit strategy at the end of his 3rd season, as he is known to do?
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