← Betting News
Mourinho had a deal to replace Ferguson at United in 2013, Netflix doc claims
N
NewsDesk
Original post · 10 Aug
Mourinho was one signature away from replacing Sir Alex at Old Trafford
Here's one for the "what if" pile. A new Netflix docuseries on José Mourinho has revealed that back in 2013, the Portuguese manager had a deal in place to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United - before he changed his mind at the last minute and went back to Chelsea instead.
For United fans, that's a genuine gut-punch of a revelation. The club ended up handing the job to David Moyes that summer, a spell that unravelled quickly and kicked off years of instability at Old Trafford that arguably still hasn't fully settled.
How close it actually came
According to the Netflix documentary reported by ESPN, Mourinho was "all set" to succeed Ferguson when the legendary Scot retired in 2013. The plan was there. Then Mourinho pivoted and re-joined Chelsea, the club he'd already won two Premier League titles with during his first stint from 2004 to 2007.
So instead of Mourinho walking into Old Trafford, he walked back into Stamford Bridge. United got Moyes. It's the kind of behind-the-scenes detail that reshapes how you read a whole decade of a club's history.
Why fans and bettors will chew on this
The obvious appeal here is the alternate timeline. Mourinho did eventually manage United - but not until 2016, three years and a couple of managers later, and that spell ended in a December 2018 sacking. Would things have played out differently if he'd taken the reins straight from Ferguson, with that squad and that momentum? We'll never know, and that's exactly why this kind of story runs and runs.
There's no direct betting market on a decision made over a decade ago, of course. But revelations like this tend to feed into the broader manager-market conversation - the futures odds on who takes over at big clubs, and how quickly bookmakers price up candidates when a job comes open. Mourinho's name has floated around plenty of those markets over the years, and stories reminding everyone how close he's come to certain jobs are the sort of thing that gets bettors talking about where he lands next.
For now, this is a documentary detail rather than breaking transfer news. But it's a reminder that some of the biggest calls in football are made privately, months before anyone outside a boardroom knows a thing about them.
The wider point
United's search for stability after Ferguson has been one of the defining sagas in English football. Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Erik ten Hag - the list of managers who've tried and struggled to recreate the Ferguson era is long. Learning that the club's first choice may well have been available and interested in 2013 only adds another layer to that story.
Whether you buy that a Mourinho appointment in 2013 would have changed everything is up to you. What's clear is that the decision to go elsewhere - his and the club's - set the tone for what came next.
Sources:
Worth keeping an eye on how this lands - there's an ongoing discussion of UK online casinos on the forum.
Here's one for the "what if" pile. A new Netflix docuseries on José Mourinho has revealed that back in 2013, the Portuguese manager had a deal in place to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United - before he changed his mind at the last minute and went back to Chelsea instead.
For United fans, that's a genuine gut-punch of a revelation. The club ended up handing the job to David Moyes that summer, a spell that unravelled quickly and kicked off years of instability at Old Trafford that arguably still hasn't fully settled.
How close it actually came
According to the Netflix documentary reported by ESPN, Mourinho was "all set" to succeed Ferguson when the legendary Scot retired in 2013. The plan was there. Then Mourinho pivoted and re-joined Chelsea, the club he'd already won two Premier League titles with during his first stint from 2004 to 2007.
So instead of Mourinho walking into Old Trafford, he walked back into Stamford Bridge. United got Moyes. It's the kind of behind-the-scenes detail that reshapes how you read a whole decade of a club's history.
Why fans and bettors will chew on this
The obvious appeal here is the alternate timeline. Mourinho did eventually manage United - but not until 2016, three years and a couple of managers later, and that spell ended in a December 2018 sacking. Would things have played out differently if he'd taken the reins straight from Ferguson, with that squad and that momentum? We'll never know, and that's exactly why this kind of story runs and runs.
There's no direct betting market on a decision made over a decade ago, of course. But revelations like this tend to feed into the broader manager-market conversation - the futures odds on who takes over at big clubs, and how quickly bookmakers price up candidates when a job comes open. Mourinho's name has floated around plenty of those markets over the years, and stories reminding everyone how close he's come to certain jobs are the sort of thing that gets bettors talking about where he lands next.
For now, this is a documentary detail rather than breaking transfer news. But it's a reminder that some of the biggest calls in football are made privately, months before anyone outside a boardroom knows a thing about them.
The wider point
United's search for stability after Ferguson has been one of the defining sagas in English football. Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Erik ten Hag - the list of managers who've tried and struggled to recreate the Ferguson era is long. Learning that the club's first choice may well have been available and interested in 2013 only adds another layer to that story.
Whether you buy that a Mourinho appointment in 2013 would have changed everything is up to you. What's clear is that the decision to go elsewhere - his and the club's - set the tone for what came next.
Sources:
Worth keeping an eye on how this lands - there's an ongoing discussion of UK online casinos on the forum.
0 replies
Join the conversation
Members reply, share payout experiences and flag problems. It’s free.