Rohan Sengupta
Manchester United have held extensive talks with Jose Mourinho over an extension of his contract at Old Trafford. The Portuguese manager will be offered an extension on his £12million-a-year Manchester United contract amidst fears among the club’s board that he could quit the club, according to Sky Sports.
It is thought that the talks accelerated last month, and will continue, with United committed to securing the longer-term future of the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager. It is unclear at this stage as to what the length of any new contract would be. There is an option in Mourinho’s current deal to extend by a further year, which would see his contract run until June 2020.
Mourinho is currently midway through the three-year contract he signed when succeeding Louis van Gaal in May 2016.
It is believed that talks between Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes, and United began in October. However, United have taken the manager’s enthusiasm to discuss a contract extension over the past month as a sign of his desire to remain at the club.
Mourinho is still living in the Lowry Hotel in Manchester and is commuting to London to see wife Matilde – who decided against relocating. In his first season at United, the 54-year-old won the League Cup and the Europa League, also securing Champions League qualification last season.
United are currently 2nd in the Premier League, 15 points behind leaders Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and have progressed through to the last 16 of the Champions League, where we face Sevilla in February. Mourinho has admitted that United need to spend more to compete with Manchester City and suggested that his squad required massive investment to be able to fight with Europe’s elite clubs.
He was frustrated by United’s reluctance to meet Inter Milan’s £49million valuation of Croatia winger Ivan Perisic last summer and a winger seems to be the manager’s priority in the window this month.
United also want a central midfielder, with Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini sidelined. Carrick has played just 90 minutes of football and is out after undergoing a heart procedure, while Fellaini has been hit by a knee problem since early October.
The Red Devils are also interested in bringing a new left-back, with Danny Rose a top target, but Mourinho seems to be impressed by Luke Shaw’s attitude and performances in recent weeks and are believed to be waiting to see how he performs over the remainder of the campaign before making a decision over the Tottenham Hotspur player.
