Jose Mourinho has disclosed that he had agreed terms and signed a contract to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013, only to change course and return to Chelsea instead. The revelation comes from a new Netflix documentary chronicling the Portuguese coach's career, in which Ferguson himself recounts receiving an emotional phone call from Mourinho, who was in tears as he explained he could not go through with taking over at Old Trafford.
Instead, United turned to David Moyes, a decision widely regarded as a disaster from the outset. Mourinho would eventually arrive at United three years later, in 2016, but his tenure lasted only two and a half seasons before he was dismissed. Notably, United have not won a Premier League title since Ferguson's retirement in 2013, a drought that raises the question of how different the club's fortunes might have been had Mourinho taken the job when Ferguson first departed.
The case for Mourinho succeeding in 2013 rests partly on his track record before that point. His most transformative achievements — Champions League glory at Porto, his impact at Chelsea, and a Treble with Inter Milan — had already been secured, but his first season at Real Madrid in 2011-12 still stands out, when he guided the club to a 100-point LaLiga campaign and 121 goals scored. Arriving at United a year after that, Mourinho might have been able to build on the momentum of Ferguson's title-winning squad rather than let it stagnate, as Moyes did.
One of the clearest arguments in Mourinho's favor concerns the transfer market. United's first post-Ferguson window was widely seen as mismanaged: a reported agreement with Thiago Alcantara fell through, an attempt to sign Cesc Fabregas failed, and the club settled for a late deadline-day deal for Marouane Fellaini. Mourinho, who did sign Fabregas for Chelsea in 2014, might have secured both midfielders, potentially giving United a stronger squad than the one that finished well off the pace under Moyes. There is also the suggestion that Mourinho, who tried to sign Wayne Rooney while at Chelsea, could have extracted more from the striker, who still managed 17 Premier League goals during Moyes's troubled campaign.
That season's title, won by Manchester City under Manuel Pellegrini with 86 points, was far from out of reach, particularly as both Liverpool and Chelsea faltered in the closing stages. The following campaign, 2014-15, might also have presented an opportunity, though it's worth noting Chelsea's success that year was built partly around the arrival of Diego Costa and the emergence of Eden Hazard as the league's top performer.
However, there are strong reasons to doubt whether Mourinho would have thrived at Old Trafford in 2013. His pattern of early success followed by dressing-room fallout was already evident during his difficult final season at Real Madrid, where a rift with captain Iker Casillas and friction with several senior players preceded his departure. Mourinho later remarked that Madrid's stars were