Jose to United a ‘done deal’ – widespread reports
Jose Mourinho is said to have told ‘trusted allies’ that he will take over at Manchester United this summer.
The back pages of almost every newspaper sing a chorus of ‘done deal’, with Mourinho said to have told ‘close friends’ or ‘pals’ that he expects to be United manager next season.
The Daily Mail set the pace by saying that ‘Mourinho is sure the job is his’, having told ‘close friends’ that it is a ‘done deal’.
The Daily Express have obviously been talking to the same ‘friends’ (now not so ‘close’) who also use the words ‘done deal’. They continue by saying: ‘The imminent appointment is one of the worst-kept secrets in football, with senior insiders in the game openly accepting that the only major managerial appointment in the Premier League still up for grabs this summer is at Chelsea.’
The Daily Mirror have stepped back a little, saying that ‘JOSE MOURINHO has told friends he believes he will be the next Manchester United manager’. It is described as ‘almost a ‘done deal”.
The Daily Telegraph also have a caveat, saying: ‘Jose Mourinho is convinced that the Manchester United job is his if the club sack Louis van Gaal at the end of the season.’ He is ‘understood to have told friends that he expects to resume work in the summer at Old Trafford’.
The most telling line comes from the Daily Star, with David Woods writing that ‘Starsport understands talk of the former Chelsea boss taking charge at Old Trafford in the summer is rife in football circles. At least one high-profile figure is describing it privately as a “done deal”‘.
Clearly not so private at all. Coincidentally, all the journalists who have independently written this story were at a BT event on Tuesday with Gary Lineker and Harry Redknapp.
The Sun carry no quotes at all from the BT promotion and have no mention of Mourinho taking over at Manchester United, having told us yesterday that Mauricio Pochettino is now the front-runner.