Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United can still win title

British outlet Independent, on the other hand are reporting that while talks are underway, the power brokers at United are said to favour Laurent Blanc and Mauricio Pochettino over Mourinho. While Louis Van Gaal’s contract at Old Trafford is only due to expire in the summer of 2017, it’s believed that the 64-year-old will actually leave Old Trafford a year earlier than scheduled.

His Chelsea team of 2004-05 set a Premier League record for points accumulated, 95, and he was the fastest manager to reach 100 wins in the Premier League, doing so in just 142 matches. Following his dismissal, Mourinho said in a statement he wanted to return to work quickly and would remain in England.

And on Friday evening the BBC and the Manchester Evening News caught up and reported that discussions had taken place with the Old Trafford club.

Mourinho will have had nearly three years to wipe those tears away and plot his next move.

With Manchester City confirming that Pep Guardiola will join them from next season, Mourinho was firmly placed as the front-runner in the event of van Gaal’s exit.

Interim Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink suggests that some managers put too much emphasis on possession football ahead of his side’s meeting with Manchester United. I have said that also in Spain and also in Germany.

LOUIS VAN GAAL says a win over Chelsea on Sunday would reignite Manchester United’s Premier League title hopes after their “sparkling” wins over the past week.

His comments come less than a fortnight after a dismal loss to Southampton that saw United and Van Gaal booed at Old Trafford and intensified speculation over his future.

“You must not overrate the percentage of possession”, Hiddink said.

Mourinho has always been touted as a potential successor for Van Gaal at United after the Portuguese coach was sacked by Chelsea in December following the Blues’ disastrous start to the season. “I never hired security”.

“It has been very hard for me, for my wife, for my kids, for my grandchildren, and for my friends to cope with that”. I mean what I said. On that occasion, doubts over Mourinho’s personality and style of football – most notably from United non-executive director and former player Sir Bobby Charlton – led to David Moyes being appointed.