Jose Mourinho has signed his contract to become the new manager of Manchester United, Sky Sports News HQ can exclusively confirm.
The Portuguese put pen to paper at a central London hotel at around 5pm on Thursday to succeed Louis van Gaal as the new boss at Old Trafford.
Sky Sports News HQ exclusively broke the news after Mourinho returned home at 5.20pm with documents in his hand and a bottle of red wine, having met with United’s executive vice chairman Ed Woodward to complete the deal.
Mourinho symbolically wore a black and red tie for the final stage of negotiations, and the deal is completed on the 12th anniversary of his winning the Champions League for the first time with Porto, who knocked out United on their run to the final.
Mourinho, who has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in December, replaces his former mentor Van Gaal, who was dismissed by United two days after they won the FA Cup against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
Sky sources reported almost immediately after the final whistle that Mourinho was set to replace the Dutchman as soon as possible, and Van Gaal was informed of the club’s decision in a personal visit by Woodward to his home on Sunday night.
By Tuesday, talks between Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes were well underway via phone and email and Sky sources reported that negotiations were expected to be a formality, to be completed within 48 hours.
But Mendes and Woodward were forced to meet at United’s offices in central London to rectify a number of image rights issues, including Chelsea’s ownership of Mourinho’s name.
Those issues were smoothly resolved over the course of Wednesday and Thursday and Mourinho emerged from his Chelsea home shortly before 3pm, suited and booted for the first time this week, where he left to seal a job he has wanted since Sir Alex Ferguson famously stood down in 2013.
