New details regarding Manchester United’s 2013 attempt to hire Jose Mourinho as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor have emerged in a documentary set to stream on Netflix starting August 11. Although negotiations were well advanced following secret meetings in London and Madrid, the deal collapsed abruptly.
Ferguson shared in the film that Mourinho personally called him, expressing deep emotional distress, to explain that he could not break his prior word to return to Chelsea. While Mourinho cited family reasons for this sudden reversal, some skeptics close to United have questioned that narrative, pointing instead to his strong bond with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
United officials at the time viewed this as a critical junction, hoping Mourinho would bring the necessary gravitas to lead the club through a difficult transitional phase following the departures of both Ferguson and CEO David Gill. With Mourinho unavailable and Pep Guardiola committed to Bayern Munich, the club appointed David Moyes, whose tenure proved disastrous.
Mourinho eventually arrived at Old Trafford in 2016, though the environment had changed significantly by then. Despite winning the Europa League and the EFL Cup, his time there was marked by friction with key players and management. Many analysts now believe that had Mourinho taken the post in 2013, he would have aggressively pursued targets like Thiago Alcantara and avoided the chaotic transfer strategies that defined the post-Ferguson era.
