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22nd Aug 2016

Jose Mourinho turned down big offers from Italy and Spain to take Man United job

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Simon Lloyd

The post-Sir Alex Ferguson years haven’t gone too smoothly at Manchester United.

Following David Moyes’ disastrous 10-month stint in charge, United fans were bored half to death by the dull football served up by an inconsistent Louis van Gaal side.

Just three games into Jose Mourinho’s reign as United boss and there’s a sense that things have already changed for the better at Old Trafford.

Very few managers could bring the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba to a club without being able to offer Champions League football, yet Mourinho has. Eric Bailly – Mourinho’s other signing this summer – has also looked accomplished in the United defence during his early weeks at the club.

Manchester United v Southampton - Premier League

While United fans dare to dream of what lies ahead over the course of the season ahead, Mourinho has confirmed that United weren’t his only potential destination this summer.

Speaking to Spanish publication, SPORT, the former Chelsea boss admitted that his love of the Premier League made him turn down jobs from elsewhere in Europe.

“I had the opportunity to go to Italy or Spain as I had in the past but the Premier League is special. In some countries, the big clubs always want to be the best and leave the others behind, getting smaller. In England, the opposite occurs. Here, they want all of the clubs in the league to be competitive.”

Mourinho takes his United side to Hull this weekend, another team to have won both of their opening league fixtures.

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