Jose Mourinho Was Ready to Get Sacked by Manchester United in 2018: Richard Keys

Jose Mourinho had reportedly chalked out a plan to get sacked by Manchester United. The Premier League club ousted Mourinho from the managerial role in December 2018 on the back of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool. Richard Keys, a former Sky Sports presenter, claimed in his blog on Wednesday that Mourinho was the one who wanted to be relieved of his duty at Old Trafford. To make that happen, the Portuguese manager dropped star midfielder Paul Pogba from three league matches in a row including the Liverpool game.

The decision did not go down well with the Manchester United hierarchy as Pogba was one of the top signings of the club at that point in time. “He (Mourinho) once told me he knew he’d be sacked at United for leaving Pogba out of three consecutive games – at a time when the Frenchman’s stock was at its highest. All planned. And it worked perfectly. He wanted the sack. He got it,” Keys wrote, as quoted by Daily Mail.

The outlet earlier reported that Mourinho, who was sacked by Roma last month, wanted to make a return to Manchester United. Sources close to him told the Daily Mail that Mourinho reckons he has some “unfinished business” at Old Trafford. What has made him more eager is the new regime at the club after Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS took over its footballing operations as part of their 25 per cent investment.

“His ambition is to return to United. He feels like he has unfinished business thereafter how it ended last time and he has made it his mission to go back,” a friend of Mourinho revealed on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast.

Keys, however, could not agree to the decision of Mourinho as he wrote, “Never mind that he went on to say that his biggest regret at Old Trafford wasn’t that he should have left at the end of the first season – but taking the job in the first place. How does that sit with those suggesting he’s got ‘unfinished business’ at United?”

Mourinho took over the helm at Manchester United in 2016 after Louis van Gaal left the post. Under his guidance, the Red Devils lifted the Europa League and the Carabao Cup before finishing second in the Premier League in the subsequent season.