Jose Mourinho reveals he had a 2013 agreement to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United

Jose Mourinho has confirmed he agreed to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013, only to reverse his decision and return to Chelsea instead. David Moyes was appointed United manager following Ferguson's retirement. Speaking in a new Netflix documentary series about his career, Mourinho said: "When I left Real Madrid, I had a contract signed to go to Manchester United after Sir Alex." Ferguson also stated in the documentary that the manager had accepted the offer, but changed his mind within hours. Ferguson said: "He had the offer for the job, yes. I sat him down and explained the situation to him. As far as I knew, he had accepted. But a few hours later, everything changed." According to Ferguson, Mourinho called him in tears to say he could not break his commitment to Chelsea. Mourinho described the Manchester United offer as "very flattering" due to the club's extraordinary appeal, but added that "love for football" differs from "love for a specific club". He said that after Real Madrid he needed to feel loved, and that missing the opportunity to succeed Ferguson was a dramatic event, although he did not regret a decision made with his heart. He returned to Chelsea in 2013, winning his third Premier League title and the League Cup. Mourinho eventually took charge at Manchester United in May 2016, succeeding Louis van Gaal. During a two-and-a-half-year spell, he won the League Cup and the Europa League, but was dismissed in December 2018 following a poor run of results. Another part of the documentary focuses on Mourinho's turbulent spell at Real Madrid. Former goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas described his relationship with Mourinho as "very cold", saying tensions eventually reached a point where "the rope snapped". Casillas made 725 appearances for Real over 25 years, winning three Champions Leagues and five La Liga titles, but spent large parts of the 2012-2013 season on the bench. Former Real midfielder Sami Khedira said Mourinho's dispute with Casillas affected the entire squad. He claimed Mourinho turned the dressing room atmosphere into "a nightmare" by benching Casillas and criticising him in the media, and that his relationships with players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Casillas, Sergio Ramos and other Spanish players broke down. In response, Mourinho said Casillas had spoken from their very first conversations about increasing holidays for national team players, changing training times and not going to the hotel before matches, leading him to conclude the players had become "spoiled". Casillas also said he disagreed with Mourinho's approach towards Barcelona players in the Spain national team. Defending his stance, Mourinho said he did not accept certain behaviours and that in the Real-Barcelona rivalry, "this is war", even if players could maintain friendly relationships at international level. Mourinho also spoke about former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, saying the Russian billionaire became more involved during his first spell at the club and played a role in the signing of Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko. Shevchenko joined Chelsea in May 2006 for a then-club record fee of around £30 million, but scored only nine league goals in 48 appearances over three years. Mourinho said the player he actually wanted to sign was Samuel Eto'o. In 2010, when Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge with Inter Milan, he faced Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16. Inter won 2–1 and went on to win the tournament. Mourinho said that during that match he felt he was playing against Abramovich, the man who had sacked him. He added that he needed revenge because, in his view, football belongs to players, managers and fans.