Jose Mourinho claims Manchester United still haven't sold players he didn't want

The Portuguese manager has lifted the lid on his time at Man Utd and his relationship with Ed Woodward.
Jose Mourinho was sacked by United in 2018Jose Mourinho was sacked by United in 2018
Jose Mourinho was sacked by United in 2018

Jose Mourinho says he would still 'love' to see Manchester United succeed but aimed a dig at the club for not trusting him as much as they have done with Erik ten Hag.

Mourinho was sacked after just over two years in charge at Old Trafford, despite winning the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League during his time at the helm.

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The Portuguese coach was dismissed after a poor start to the season that saw United 19 points behind then-leaders Liverpool and well on course to miss out on Champions League qualification at the end of the campaign. Mourinho was also criticised for a negative style of play and the belief he did little to utilise the club's academy system.

As for himself, Mourinho never felt he had the true backing of the United board during his time at the club, with player power more influential than that of the first-team manager.

Despite being sacked six years ago, Mourinho insists he has no hard feelings towards United but admitted that they still have a couple of players now who he didn't even want when he was in charge of the club. Victor Lindelof, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay are the only players still at the club who were senior players during Mourinho's final months in charge.

“My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good," he told The Telegraph. "Good as in the personal point of view. Even now we send an SMS. But from a professional point of view it was not the best. I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have.

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“I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different. There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”

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