The 54-year-old’s previous deal at Old Trafford was due to expire in 2019.

Mourinho said he was “delighted” that United “feel and trust that I am the right manager for this great club for the foreseeable future”.

He added: “I would like to say a big thank you to the owners and to [chief executive Ed] Woodward.”

The Portuguese, appointed as Louis van Gaal’s successor in May 2016, won the EFL Cup and Europa League in his first season.

This season United are second in the Premier League, behind runaway leaders Manchester City, with the club still in the Champions League and FA Cup.

“We have set very high standards – winning three trophies in one season – but those are the standards I expect my teams to aim for,” Mourinho added.

“We are creating the conditions for a brilliant and successful future for Manchester United. I love my players and it is a pleasure to know that we are going to be together for at least the next three years.”

Woodward praised Mourinho for his “exceptional work rate and professionalism”, as well as for “embracing the club’s desire to promote top-quality young players”.

He added: “He has brought an energy and a sense of purpose to everything that he does and I am sure that will continue to bring results for the fans and the club.”

Speaking at his news conference earlier on Thursday – before his new contract was announced – Mourinho hailed the club’s recent signing of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.

He said the Chilean had moved from a “fantastic club to a giant club” in the swap deal that saw Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan head the other way.

Mourinho said it was “a great deal for everybody” and confirmed Sanchez will be in the squad for United’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Yeovil on Friday.

–

Source: BBC

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The club have decided the cost of pursuing the 29-year-old would be prohibitively expensive.

Manager Pep Guardiola, the club’s owner Khaldoon al Mubarak and other senior officials are all in agreement.

It is understood the wages being demanded by Sanchez would have put him ahead of all City’s star men, something the club decided they would not do.

Manchester United are favourites to sign the Chile international after indicating they are willing to meet the Gunners’ £35m asking price for the forward.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say they understand Chelsea are also interested in the player.

They claim the overall package being negotiated is higher than the £60m for which Arsenal agreed to sell Sanchez to City in the summer.

City still believe Sanchez would prefer to join them, given his past relationship with Guardiola and the fact he pushed to join them in the summer.

However, they view it as highly unlikely Sanchez will drop his financial demands to a level that would allow them to resume talks.

‘If he moves we have a chance’

Speaking after his side’s 3-0 victory over Stoke on Monday night, United manager Jose Mourinho said: “There is no news on Sanchez. He is an Arsenal player; if he stays it’s great for Arsenal, if he comes to us, great for us, if he goes to another club, great for them.

“There are probably other clubs also interested and trying and I shouldn’t talk about a player who is an Arsenal player.

“I am not confident but also not unconfident. If he moves I think we have a chance.”

–

Source: BBC

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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has continued his feud with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte by saying he will never be “suspended for match-fixing”.

Conte received a four-month suspension while at Juventus in the 2012-13 season for failing to report match-fixing at his previous club Siena.

In 2016, the Italian was cleared by a court of any wrongdoing in the matter.

Mourinho’s comments came after Conte had accused the Portuguese of forgetting his own antics in the past.

Conte had reacted angrily this week to Mourinho’s assertion that he did not need to act like a “clown” in his technical area, saying: “I think he has to see himself in the past – maybe he was speaking about himself in the past.”

Speaking after his side’s 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Derby on Friday, Mourinho said the “clown” comments were not directed at Conte.

But he added: “The only thing I want to say to end the story is that yes, I made mistakes in the past on the touchline. Yes, I will make less but I think I will still make a few.

“What never happened to me – and will never happen – is to be suspended for match-fixing. That never happened to me and will never happen.”

Mourinho was then told by a journalist that Conte had been charged by football authorities in the past with failing to report match-fixing.

‘If you want to fight me I am ready’

On Friday, speaking before United’s win over Derby, Conte reacted to Mourinho – who has managed Chelsea twice, winning three Premier League titles across two spells at Stamford Bridge.

“There is a person that continues to look here. You understand? He went away, but he continued to look here,” said Conte, who won the title last season with the Blues.

“I am starting to be a bit annoyed. If you want to go to fight with me I am ready. I am improving a bit my English – because this is the real problem for me – otherwise we can go, we can go to fight.

“I’m ready to fight for me, for my players, for the club, with everyone. I have no problem.”

But Mourinho denied he had aimed the comments at Conte.

“I don’t blame the Chelsea manager at all. I understand his reaction. I was speaking about myself,” he said.

“I was saying I don’t need to behave as a clown to show passion, that I control my emotions in a better way.”

• 19 October 2017: Conte says Mourinho needs to “look at himself” and stop talking about his former side
• 29 July 2017: Conte says that he must avoid “a Mourinho season” as the champions attempt to defend their Premier League title.
• 14 March 2017: Mourinho tells Chelsea fans “I’m still number one” after being heckled during his side’s FA Cup loss at Stamford Bridge
• 12 February 2017: Conte says he does not like Mourinho’s “joking” after the Manchester United boss said Chelsea cannot be caught because they are a “defensive team”
• 23 October 2016: Conte says he was “not mocking anyone” after appearing to antagonise Mourinho in Manchester United’s 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge

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Burnley are three points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool on 32 points after 19 Premier League games, despite securing only 40 points in total last season.

Sean Dyche’s side have already taken points off some of the top six, including an impressive 3-2 away win against Chelsea on the opening day of the season, and they will be looking to do the same at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

Mourinho admits he has been impressed by Burnley’s performances this term and believes they are likely to be among the clubs challenging for the top six at the end of the season.

“It’s great [Burnley’s form]. If survival was the objective, I think the objective is in the pocket, it’s totally under control,” said Mourinho in an exclusive Christmas Day interview with Sky Sports News.

“If the objective is to finish top ten, they will do it. If the objective is to fight for European positions, they are there so they have the right to fight, so it’ll be a difficult opponent.

“If you compare what they are doing with the initial objectives, it’s a very good season.”

Burnley have the fourth-best defence in the league, behind Manchester City, United and Chelsea, conceding only 15 goals and Mourinho expects his side to face a tough task if they are to break down the Clarets defence.

“I think the record of goals conceded speaks for itself,” he added.

“They conceded three in the last one but before that they were really amazing so they defend very very well.

“Everybody knows the way they play, if you expect them to play creative beautiful football, they don’t do that.

“But if you talk about direct objective, pragmatic and play with their strength, I think they are very very good.

“They’ve worked with the same manager for a few years now, I think the identification between the players, the style of play, the manager, the manager’s ideas is very good, so what they do they do well.”

–

Source: Sky Sports

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The former Chelsea midfielder watched on as his old boss orchestrated a 2-1 victory for United over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.

Essien labelled Mourinho as ‘daddy’ in his caption and also shared a snap of himself with Sir Bobby Charlton.

The 35-year-old wrote: ‘Good to see daddy Jose Mourinho and the great legend Sir Bobby Charlton.’

The Ghanaian now plies his trade for Persib Bandung in Indonesia but his most successful years were spent at Stamford Bridge.

He claimed the Premier League title, FA Cup and League Cup under Mourinho’s stewardship and clearly still possesses a strong relationship with the Portuguese.

The United boss is now in pursuit of silverware at a new club and watched on as his side advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Goals from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford helped Mourinho’s men fight back from a goal down against their Russian opposition.

–

Source: Dailymail UK

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Mkhitaryan, who joined from Dortmund in July 2016 for £26.3m, has been left out of United’s last two match-day squads.

The 28-year-old will return to the United squad for Saturday’s Premier League game against Brighton.

Mourinho said Mkhitaryan’s performances have been “decreasing step by step”.

Mkhitaryan started 10 of United’s first 11 Premier League games before he was dropped after being substituted in the 62nd minute of the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on 5 November.

“I was not happy with his last performances,” said Mourinho of a player who has scored twice in 16 games this season.

“It’s not one or two, I am talking about three, four or five.”

Mkhitaryan made a modest start to his United career and did not start a Premier League game in almost three months after being substituted at half-time in the defeat to Manchester City last September.

His form improved during the second half of the season and he scored as United beat Ajax in the Europa League final in Stockholm in May.

“He started well this season but his performance levels, goalscoring, assists, high pressing, bringing the team with him as number 10, were decreasing step by step,” added Mourinho.

“That was enough [to be dropped] because the others worked to have a chance. Everybody works to have a chance. It’s as simple as that.”

Dortmund have a history of buying back big-name players they have recently sold.

Midfielder Shinji Kagawa returned to the German club in 2014 after two years at Manchester United.

Germany playmaker Mario Gotze arrived back in Dortmund in 2016 after three seasons at Bayern Munich while Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin had a season at Real Madrid and a loan spell with Liverpool before returning, initially on loan, after a two-year absence in 2014

–

Source: BBC

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Pogba came into the starting line-up for the match after two months out with a hamstring problem and produced an excellent performance, in which he created one goal and scored another.

The midfielder was substituted in the 70th minute, and seven minutes later striker Ibrahimovic was brought on for his first appearance since suffering knee ligament damage in April.

Mourinho said of Pogba after the Premier League contest at Old Trafford: “He was top. It looked like he had not been out. He came back with a really great performance. He was a great influence in the game.

“He had to come out when he felt the first sign of fatigue, because we don’t want to go over the limits. So he played a little bit more than an hour, and for that hour it looked like he wasn’t for such a long time not playing football.”

When it was then put to him that some players are irreplaceable, Mourinho agreed, and added: “He affects our football.

“We all know, myself and the fellow players, that certain players influence the levels of the team. With him we have much more creation. I am so happy.

“Now let’s see the best decision for Wednesday (when United play Basel away in the Champions League) – if the best thing for him is to play again, or for him to rest, because he is a player we need to protect.”

Regarding Ibrahimovic, who re-signed for United in August after his initial deal with them expired earlier in the summer, Mourinho said: “It was a very emotional scene for all of us that have stayed close to such a professional with one of the biggest injuries in football.

“I think him coming back was a joy for everyone, but for us close to him, it was more than that – it was big emotion to see the big guy coming back.”

Ibrahimovic once again compared himself to a lion in a post-match interview.

Asked if he ever doubted he would return, the 36-year-old told BT Sport 1: “No, because lions they don’t recover like humans.”

After they went 1-0 down in the 14th minute when Dwight Gayle netted, United’s emphatic response saw Anthony Martial and Chris Smalling get on the scoresheet before the break and then Pogba and Romelu Lukaku – notching his first goal in eight club appearances – do so after.

Mourinho, whose side returned to second place in the league, eight points behind Manchester City, said: “The goal was like a wake-up call and the team reacted very well, very strong.

“In the second half I was seated and really enjoying the quality, and many times the beauty, of our game.”

–

Source: talksport.com

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The Portuguese confirmed Jones is unavailable for Manchester United’s game against Newcastle on Saturday, after a recurring thigh injury forced him to come off 25 minutes into England’s friendly against Germany which ended 0-0 last Friday.

Jones had played with the injury in crucial games against Tottenham and Chelsea, but Mourinho was left shocked by the decision of Gareth Southgate and the England medical staff to allow him to play in a friendly while recovering from injury.

Phil Jones went off injured during England’s friendly against Germany

A host of England players dropped out of Southgate’s squad for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil through injury, which sparked talk of a club versus country row.

“As a manager, since 2000, in 17 years I don’t have one single player that has injections of anaesthetic to play a friendly. Never,” Mourinho told reporters.

“I’m not an angel and I’ve had players to be injected to play official matches and crucial matches.

“To get six injections of local anaesthetic to play a friendly, I have never heard about it and Phil Jones had it.

Mourinho was left angered by Gareth Southgate’s decision to give Jones six injections to play in a friendly match

“He had it before the match and, after fifteen minutes, he was out and obviously Saturday he is out.”

Sources close to the England camp insist Jones received treatment in line with usual medical practices but did confirm the player received a number of injections before the game.

When asked whether he had spoken to Southgate, Mourinho replied: “No, I’m just telling a fact. He was injected in the afternoon of the match, he didn’t feel good during the warm-up.

“Between the warm-up and the start of the match he had five more local injections to play the friendly.”

–

Source: Sky Sports

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All hail Aduana, new kings of Ghanaian football

When Aduana Stars started assembling very good pieces from last season, the talk was that they were getting ready to win the Ghana Premier League.

Noah Martey was purchased from Bechem United while Zakaria Mumuni joined from WAFA. The likes of Derrick Sasraku and Godfred Saka were maintained together with Daniel Darkwah and that meant that you had a solid base and a good mix of new players; the right mix for a Premier League challenge and they duly delivered.

They went unbeaten until Week 8 and maybe that was why their coach Yusif Abubakar said that he knew they would win the title.

The performance, in my opinion, which underlined their seriousness was the 3-3 draw with Hearts of Oak in Accra. The refereeing on the day from Prince Amoah was very dodgy but Aduana took the lead three times in that game and they played without any fear.

A closer look at the statistics reveals just how well they set themselves up for the title.

They lost none of their home matches and they have lost only four of their 14 away matches played so far (the 15th is at AshGold on final day). Their away record produced only 18 out of 45 points but those points were a very healthy buffer for the 12 home games they won.

Clearly, they knew their way round the league and they worked for their title.

WAFA could have made it tougher but a lack of ambition, at least in my mind, shown by their head coach Klavs Rasmussen took the league away from them.

With Bolga All Stars already relegated, the fight for survival has become more important for the 8 teams lying between 8th and 15th place.

They are separated by just 3 points and any failures on final day could sink any two of them. Things just got hotter!!!

Jose Smart or Jose Scared at Anfield?

By 1:30 pm on Saturday October 14, the debate surrounding the match between Liverpool and Manchester United had been broken into two very distinct camps.

One camp said that Joe Mourinho should have gone for the victory against the old enemy. The Liverpool defence had been poor and they did not have Sadio Mane and thus, staying compact was not ambitious enough.

The other camp believed that the point was good for a season of 38 matches. They stated that the battle was long and arduous and so, a point gained at a team that knows how to play the big games and will slaughter your team if you attempt exchanging blows with it is important.

Both camps hold very valid stances but I go with the second group. Liverpool love this match and they were primed to deliver the death blow had Man United tried to go gung-ho at them.

Of course, Man United could have attempted to build more as the game wore on and they could have been rewarded but Liverpool did not also let themselves go completely. They always had their midfield in place because for once, they recognised their shortcomings and they did not also want to risk getting sucker-punched.

Is that also not self-preservation? Man United have rarely dominated Liverpool at Anfield. They have played on the counter and they have saved themselves from defeat so many times.

Only 15 goals were scored in Sir Alex Ferguson’s last 16 trips to Liverpool. Jose Mourinho is not the first Man United to think about not losing. A point gained will be handy later.

The Federer Express delivered in Shanghai

It has been a great year for both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Like phoenixes, the two men have risen from injury to go past every one and their latest meeting in the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday stressed the great form they were both in.

But the match and the year’s subscription of gloating belonged to Roger Federer.

I saw him win the Australian Open early this year and I wondered if he could keep going. He has done so and Sunday’s showing was even more dominant. He won 6-4, 6-3 and recorded ten aces while doing so.

Federer, in his older years, has played with a lot of calmness and focus. He does not overfuss in his decision-making and the shot selection is even more exquisite.

No one knows if he will win a lot of major titles in coming years because Novak Djokovic will return and Nadal seems to have the aggression and determination to want to keep going.

But Federer, on Sunday, reminded all of us that with proper planning and great choices in terms of tournament, he could win a few more before calling it a day.

Notable mention to Mauro Icardi.

I am not a huge fan of Inter Milan’s Argentine captain but overlooking his performance in the Milan Derby on Sunday will be very wrong.

He gave a very good shift and like all great strikers, he got his goal. Infact, he got three; my favourite being his improvised sliced volley from Ivan Perisic (who I think Man United should have signed) to make the score 2-1.

Great workout ahead of Inter’s clash with Napoli next weekend. I am not missing that one.

That’s it for this week, folks.

Hit me up on Twitter @nathan_quao

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