Sliding doors - when Mourinho said yes, then no, to Man Utd

What the report says

BBC Sport reports that a new Netflix documentary has brought renewed attention to Manchester United’s 2013 attempt to make Jose Mourinho Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor. According to the article, talks progressed over several weeks and involved meetings in Madrid and London before an agreement was reached, then abandoned within days. Ferguson is quoted describing Mourinho later telling him he could not go through with the move, saying he had given his word to Chelsea and would not break it. Mourinho has said he cited family reasons, and BBC Sport notes some people at United remain doubtful that was the full explanation.

The piece says the reversal mattered because United were facing a major transition, with Ferguson and chief executive David Gill both leaving that summer. Club figures believed Mourinho’s experience and personality made him better suited than other candidates to manage the change and preserve standards on the pitch. After Mourinho stepped back, United turned to David Moyes, whose appointment did not go as planned and who was later presented as “The Chosen One.”

BBC Sport also says Mourinho later did manage United, replacing Louis van Gaal in 2016, but by then the squad and manager had both changed. He won the Europa League and EFL Cup and finished second in the league, but his spell also ended in conflict. The article frames the missed 2013 opportunity as a significant turning point in United’s post-Ferguson history.