Jose Mourinho will have a new assistant manager at Manchester United next season after all.
It was announced last week that Rui Faria, who has worked alongside Mourinho for 17 years, was leaving Old Trafford to pursue new opportunities.
Having initially appeared to rule out appointing a new number two to replace Faria, Mourinho’s comments in an interview with Record, the Portuguese publication, suggest he’s had a rethink.
The former Chelsea boss was asked if he intended to appoint someone from Portugal as his new assistant.
“No,” he replied. “It’s a person coming who worked with me before but I can’t say the name because he’s still linked to another club.”
Last week he appeared to suggest that Michael Carrick, who will join the United coaching staff from preseason, would be helping to fill the void left by Faria although not assuming the role of assistant manager.
“Michael Carrick becomes a coach on the pitch but I’m looking for two new people on the team,” he added. “Good coaches there are many, but I like to make my assistants. I do not like trained coaches, I like to shape them in my way of thinking and they grow with me and I also grow with them.”
United’s final game of the season sees them take on Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup Final at Wembley.
