In 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson reached out to Jose Mourinho to become the next manager, a move that could have shifted Manchester United’s future. Negotiations began in Madrid and London, and Mourinho initially agreed after Ferguson promised to step down. However, that night he called Ferguson, tearfully explaining he had already promised Chelsea and couldn’t break his word.

The reversal left United scrambling. With Ferguson’s exit coinciding with chief executive David Gill’s departure, the club needed a new structure. They turned to former Everton boss David Moyes, who was presented as the “Chosen One” but lacked Ferguson’s pedigree and faced a difficult transition.

Mourinho eventually returned to United in 2016, replacing Louis van Gaal. He won the Europa League and the EFL Cup, but tensions with players and the board, especially over Anthony Martial presencia and the loss of Thiago Alcantara, left his tenure unstable.

Many still wonder how a direct succession by Mourinho might have altered United’s post‑Ferguson era, avoiding the chaotic period that followed Moyes’s appointment.