The Mourinho era begins at Manchester United

It’s official then, Manchester United finally get their man and that man is the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho. After the sacking of Louis Van Gaal on Sunday it’s been a matter of when not if the former Chelsea boss would take over and Today’s sees the deal complete

It’s been the biggest open secret in Football that United were courting Mourinho. It’s been pretty much the case since his departure from Chelsea in December, it’s been even more apparent since cross town rivals City pipped them to the appointment of Pep Guardiola

As soon as news broke of Van Gaal’s imminent sacking straight after their record equaling Cup win, the Footballing world looked to Mourinho for a soundbite on whether he was going to be the next man in the United hotseat.

Mourinho has been uncharacteristically quiet as of late but his silence has fooled no-one in fairness as the negotiations in the background have been taking place between the United upper echelons, Mourinho and his agent Jorge Mendes

Many wondered why it took this long for Mourinho to put pen to paper, it turns out that bizarrely Chelsea own his name as a trademark and that could have had legal ramifications if United were to bring out any Mourinho branded merchandise

That would have been the case when Mourinho was manager of Real Madrid and Inter Milan but they would have got round that issue by paying a licensing fee, so I would imagine United would have done the same so that the Megastore can be loaded up to the rafters in Jose Mourinho plates and bed sheets

That’s the merchandise strategy sorted the next task and the more pertinent one will be the on getting to work with the on pitch strategy. The appointment of Mourinho will now get the tabloids in full swing as anyone who has ever played under his tutelage will now be linked with a move to Old Trafford

The man topping the list is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s out of contract at PSG and will be moving on this Summer, he’s worked with Mourinho before and has supposedly been offered £225,000 a week to play at Old Trafford

That seems a pretty tidy deal for someone who is in the twilight of their career but that offer has been dwarf by an unnamed club in China who are offering an absolutely staggering £53m in wages for two seasons. That is just ludicrous

That’s the dilemma for Ibrahimovic. Does he go to United and have a crack at the Premier League or does he all but go into retirement and play for his pension fund in China. You wouldn’t blame him for taking the money but you would hope that he decides to light up Manchester for at least a season

If that’s one man that could be coming in, then a Centre Back will also be high up the list. Raphael Varane is reported to be a target. The Frenchman will miss the Champions League Final and Euro 2016 after picking up an injury in preparation for Saturday’s Final against Atletico Madrid. Is that the last we’ve seen of Varane in a Real Madrid shirt.

Or what about John Stones, after Everton turning down a £40m bid from Chelsea last Summer you would imagine he will be in high demand this time around especially if he has a good Euro 2016. Whoever comes into the Goodison Park hotseat is going to have their work cut out to keep the Defender at the club

That’s an idea of who will be coming into the club but what about the departures. You would have to think Juan Mata will be shown the exit door by Mourinho for a second time and will Bastian Schweinsteiger be offloaded after a less than impressive debut season for United

Also spare a thought for Marcus Rashford, an incredible three months has seen go from Europa League debutante to possibly a seat on the plane to Euro 2016. He will now face a battle to keep his place in the starting eleven and not be pushed down the striking pecking order at Old Trafford for Rashford this could be the worst possible appointment. I wouldn’t be surprised if after kicking his heels on the bench he is then sent out on loan

But that’s all issues that will be dealt with over the Summer and it looks like Jose Mourinho is going to be in for a very busy one. The Premier League just got even more interesting