Jose Mourinho’s time at Manchester United promised so much but will go down as something of a disappointment.
Manchester United appointed Jose Mourinho back in 2016, moving to bring in ‘The Social One’ to replace Louis van Gaal.
Mourinho won the Europa League in his first season in charge but ended up losing his job come December 2018.
Big names were landed with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba arriving whilst Henrikh Mkhitaryan dazzled for Borussia Dortmund before an underwhelming United spell.
Mourinho’s final transfer window was relatively low-key though, as midfielder Fred and full back Diogo Dalot were the only major additions.
That was not enough for United to take another step forward and ultimately resulted in Mourinho’s departure.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Jose Mourinho compared Diogo Dalot to Gary Neville
Fred and Dalot did at least end up making plenty of appearances for United after joining the club.
Brazilian midfielder Fred only left United in 2023 and Dalot is still in the United first team.
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United paid £19million to sign Dalot from Porto as Mourinho spotted his potential over in Portugal.
Dalot made just 16 Premier League appearances in his first season at Old Trafford but Mourinho loved what he saw.
Speaking on United’s official website in December 2018 – mere days before losing his job – Mourinho praised the ‘fantastic potential’ of Dalot.
Mourinho added that, whilst he didn’t want to compare Dalot directly to Gary Neville, he could see a potential likeness.
Mourinho believed that Dalot could become United’s long-term right back just like Neville was, even if matching his Premier League title record was always going to be tricky.
“Everybody knows that he has fantastic potential,” said Mourinho.
“I don’t want to compare, especially not the number of titles but he is probably the same age as Gary Neville when he came into the first team. Probably he can follow Neville in this dynamic of more than 10 years as United’s right-back, with amazing conditions to improve, because as I was saying he’s 19 years old,” he added.
Diogo Dalot still making an impact for Manchester United
More than six years on from those Mourinho comments, Dalot is still featuring prominently for United.
The 26-year-old is now transitioning to play as a wing back under Ruben Amorim and has impressed of late.
Dalot picked up an assist in United 3-0 win over Leicester City, just days after scoring against Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
Dalot signed a new United contract in 2023, committing his future to the club until the summer of 2028.
That would bring up 10 years at Old Trafford for Dalot, albeit with a loan spell at AC Milan included.
Mourinho backed Dalot for a lengthy career at United and as he continues to impress under Amorim, that prediction is looking more and more likely to come true.