Jose Mourinho makes Man Utd bonus demand, defends Ten Hag

Jose Mourinho is set for a reunion with Manchester United as he his current team, Fenerbahce, host United on Thursday in the Europa League.

Ahead of the game, Mourinho spoke to the press on Wednesday and insisted that United may still owe him a bonus – as he took aim at his former club.

The Portuguese manager also spoke about the treatment of under-pressure coach Erik ten Hag and the potential for United to be awarded the 2017-18 Premier League title in retrospect due to possible sanctions against Manchester City.

City won the title ahead of United that season, which has since been thrown into question for the club’s 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.

“That was a difference in relations to me, we won the Europa League and finished second in the Premier League,” Mourinho, who was paid £15million per year at United, began.

“I think we still have a chance to win that [2017-18] league [title], maybe they punish Manchester City with points, we win that league. They have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal.”

Jose Mourinho during his time as Manager of Manchester United (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Asked how United had changed since he was sacked in December 2018, Mourinho replied: “Honestly I didn’t lose one minute thinking about it. I wish the best to Manchester United since the moment I left. I left with a good feeling for the club and its fans and I want the best for them.

“If things aren’t going amazingly well for them, it’s not something that makes me happy. But I have no time, it doesn’t make sense for me to be thinking about what happened, what didn’t happen.

“What happened for sure is that they now keep faith in the coach, supporting the coach, who is staying season after season. That means stability and means trust, giving him conditions to keep his job.” That appeared to be a subtle dig at Ten Hag, who kept his job over the summer despite leading United to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League.

“I’m not the coach of Manchester United,” Mourinho added. “I don’t see any reason for Manchester United to be afraid of Fenerbahce but I think they know it’s not an easy game for them. If they think it’s easy, if they come thinking it’ll be easy, it is the wrong approach and I don’t think that will be the approach. They know the game can be difficult for them.

“I think they will come with maximum strength, I don’t think they are going to rotate players before next weekend’s match, they come full strength, that’s what I’d do.”

United travel to Istanbul hoping to build momentum from their home victory against Brentford last Saturday. The Red Devils are yet to win in the Europa League this season, having drawn 3-3 with Porto and 1-1 with FC Twente.