Jose Mourinho confided in his friends that he knew the sack was coming following Manchester United’s insipid 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in December but hang on to get a juicy parting package.
Duly, the Portuguese coach was removed from his position just two days after United’s lackluster performance and tame manner of defeat at the hands of the Anfield club.
However, according to Daily Mail, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager knew that the axe was coming – but refused to be the one to quit first.
“I’m done after this,” he said, before adding: “But I’m not quitting.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjær replaced Mourinho as caretaker manager until the end of the season, but the Red Devils have not lost in the Premier League under his tenure.
Mourinho was then replaced by Norwegian caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who has since masterminded a resounding reversal in fortunes at the club, as they have remained unbeaten in the league since.
As a result of the club choosing to remove Mourinho from his position as opposed to the Portuguese tactician himself throwing the towel in, he exited Old Trafford with a juicy check for around £25m as his severance package.
United hosted Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, with the match ending in a 0-0 draw and featured its fair share of injuries.
Despite the draw, United legend Gary Neville believes that the 45-year-old Norwegian will be appointed the club’s next permanent manager.
“I don’t think you can give it to someone else, otherwise there would be mutiny,” he told Sky Sports.
“The fans were singing for him. I think it’s very close now — I can’t see the club going away from it. We learnt a lot about the mood of the club in that second half.
“Three months ago they were singing ‘attack, attack, attack’ and today they were singing Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s name for all of the second half.
“The mood has completely transformed — the atmosphere was one of the best I’ve seen at Old Trafford for years and it was 0-0!
“If Manchester United had scored, it would have been incredible.”