Mourinho defends United record

Jose Mourinho has stressed transforming Manchester United’s fortunes will not be a quick fix but believes his achievements at Old Trafford are “not bad” considering the scale of the challenge.

The Portuguese succeeded Louis van Gaal in May 2016 and won the EFL Cup to become the first manager in Manchester United history to win a trophy in his debut season at the club.

Europa League glory in Stockholm followed last May to take Mourinho’s trophy haul to three, alongside August’s Community Shield victory.

United currently sit second in the Premier League, 16 points behind champions Manchester City, but have drastically improved on last season’s sixth-place finish.

And, with the chance to get their hands on another piece of silverware in the FA Cup final on May 19, Mourinho is content with what he has achieved so far.

“I knew the club I was coming to,” he told Sky Sports News. “I know that one thing is to go to a club that is prepared to win and you just need to arrive and give the last touches, to give your personal quality, personal knowledge and the team, and the club, is ready just for the last click.

“I knew that was not the case [at United]. The owners knew that. The CEO, he knew that. So when the question was, in this period of my career, am I ready for this kind of job? Yes, I am ready because my career was about new things all the time.

“I was always very Portuguese in the sense that I’m always ready to discover and try new things, always ready to change country, to change club, to change culture, to change everything in the search of new things.

“I did all of that. So when I came in this period to Manchester United I was ready for this and I knew it was not to come and have simultaneous success.

“But, in spite of it, three trophies, three finals, probably a third or fourth in worst case scenario. Not bad.”