Jose Mourinho reveals the exact moment he knew his Man Utd spell was destined to end in failure

Jose Mourinho has revealed the exact moment he knew his time at Manchester United was destined to end in failure.

Mourinho was appointed Man United manager in the summer of 2016 and lasted two-and-a-half seasons before being dismissed.

He enjoyed success at Old Trafford, winning the League Cup and the Europa League in his first season at the club.

But he wasn't able to build on from his first season at the Red Devils, eventually losing his job in December 2018.

That's despite finishing in second place to Manchester City in the Premier League table.

However, they were 19 points behind the champions, and Mourinho couldn't 'clean' his squad ahead of the new campaign.

The likes of Fred and Diogo Dalot were snapped up by Man United as they looked to close the gap on Man City.

But the Portuguese boss bemoaned Man United's transfer dealings in the summer of 2018, saying he wasn't able to 'clean' his house.

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on FIVE, he explained: "I always feel, everywhere, before you buy new furniture you need to clean the house.

"So, I was more about cleaning the house than buying new furniture and we didn't clean it the way I wanted.

"I wanted to clean from the second season, and we couldn't for different reasons."

Jose Mourinho in the dugout at Liverpool. Image: Getty

Mourinho added: "I cannot say that I was asking for A, B, C or D in the third season because it wasn't right.

"I just knew, because it was my third season, I knew clearly what I didn't want there.

"In terms of the individuals and in terms of the profiles I knew clearly what I didn't want, but it didn't happen.

"Sometimes in football you have to accept that. I accepted that and I tried my best.

"But I knew exactly the deep problems that we had there and in the third season the manifestation of those problems were more clear."