Jose Mourinho has nailed his colours to the mast as Manchester United boss on the club’s pre-season tour in China by refusing to sign a shirt of former club Chelsea.
The Blues sacked Mourinho last December but the former boss is still a hero at Stamford Bridge, where fans still sing his name, after winning eight trophies during two spells in west London.
Now in charge at United, Mourinho clearly wants to sever links with the past. Amongst a throng of supporters chanting his name at Shanghai Stadium, the shirt was not immediately obvious when presented to him by a fan pitchside at the training session.
When the Portuguese saw it was a Chelsea shirt he shook his head and moved on to the next autograph hunter as an official stepped in to move fans with United merchandise to the front of the queue.
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Mourinho harbours no ill-will towards the Blues, saying he would still be at Stamford Bridge if he was wanted there but is now focused on proving he is the right man to lead United.
‘I’m not at Chelsea because the owners didn’t want me. If he (Roman Abramovich) wanted me I would still be there,’ said Mourinho.
‘I have the contract I have and for that the owners are happy. To give me a new contract I will be happy to do that because that is what I want at this moment in my career, but I think it depends on many things.
‘I will try to do my work to make the owners realise that I am the right guy for this job.’
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