Jose Mourinho gives verdict on Man Utd's chances of success under Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Jose Mourinho believes the good times will return to Manchester United under the 'experienced' Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe is close to having his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in United fully ratified, following approval from the Premier League and Football Association earlier this week. The INEOS chief is expected to take control of footballing operations once his arrival is finalised and has already been working behind the scenes to revitalise the club.

The poaching of Omar Berrada - who will become the new chief executive - from Manchester City was a show of intent from United's newest investor and the pursuit of Newcastle's sporting director, Dan Ashworth, would further improve the picture in Manchester if successful. It's a far-cry from the set up when Mourinho was in charge at Old Trafford and the former manager hopes to see an old acquaintance succeed.

“When I left the club, five years ago, for sure lots of things changed,” Mourinho told Rio Ferdinand’s VIBE with FIVE podcast. “I believe that Richard Arnold had to change something for better because I always felt he was a proper guy, a guy with a feeling for sport because I always felt that he was not a football guy, a rugby man but with a good understanding of what sport is.

“He’s a good man and I liked him very, very much even when he was in a commercial role. For sure, they improve. I know Jim Ratcliffe well, I know him very, very well. We had good relations from years ago. I have a very good feeling. "He’s also a sports man, he loves it which is a very important thing and comes with experience from other experiences from other sports, cycling, I have a good feeling that things can go in the right direction and I hope so. I really hope so.”

Mourinho's two-and-a-half-year spell at United still divides opinion, with the Portuguese manager bringing silverware to Old Trafford but doing little to get on the supporters' side in terms of playing style. He arrived in the summer of 2016 to a mess of a club that had recruited poorly.

Public fallouts with the likes of Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba did little to help Mourinho in Manchester and he was sacked in December 2018 when results fell off and performances worsened. The former Chelsea boss tried to clear house at United but things did not go to plan.

“Do you buy new furniture units before cleaning the house? I was more about cleaning the house than buying new furniture [signings],” Mourinho added. “We didn’t clean it the way we wanted. I wanted to clean from the second season and we couldn’t for different reasons. I cannot say that I was asking for A, B, C or D in the third season because that was not right. I just knew clearly by the third season what I didn’t want there.

“In terms of the individuals, in terms of the profiles, I knew clearly what I didn’t want, but it didn’t happen. Sometimes in football, you have to accept that. I tried my best but I knew exactly the deep, deep problems that we had there. In my third season, the manifestation of these problems was more and more clear.”