Jose Mourinho admits Man United ‘still have couple of players’ he didn’t want at the club

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Manchester United still have players in the squad that "he didn't want five or six years ago", during his tenure at Old Trafford. Mourinho admitted these players didn't have the best professional profile and that their presence had impeded United's growth over the years.

Mourinhowas sacked after a tumultuous two-and-a-half-year stay with United where he won the Europa League and Carabao Cup. Till the time of his sacking, Mourinho maintained that certain players did not deserve to don the United jersey.

"There are still a couple of players still there I didn't want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit of what I consider not the best professional profile for a club of a certain dimension," said Mourinho, without explicitly mentioning the names.

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"But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed."

Mourniho had a falling out with several senior players in the dressing room, including Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial as well as Bastian Schweinsteiger. The German World Cup-winning playerrecently revealed that Mourinho had forced him to train with the under-16s when he returned to the club post-injury.

Schweinsteiger joined the English club in 2015 under Louis van Gaal but the Dutch manager was replaced by Mourinho in 2016 as tensions grew between the duo.

Didn't receive the backing

The Portuguese manager also lamented that he wasn't given the backing as current coach Erik ten Hag is receiving from the United board.

"I didn't have that level of support. I didn't have that level of trust. So I left sad because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different."

Despite making it to another cup final, Ten Hag's playing philosophy remains a highly debated topic in the footballing community. United have looked poor in dominating matches, even against weak teams but individual brilliance has bailed the Dutch manager on countless instances this season.

A Champions League spot looks highly unlikely for United and a failure to achieve a top-4 spot might raise questions, even amongst the new United board over Ten Hag's future.

(With inputs from agencies)