Jose Mourinho’s phone call made sure ex-Man Utd star moved to Old Trafford instead of Man City, he ‘couldn’t reject it’

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Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho personally called a former Manchester United star and convinced him to move to Old Trafford amid interest from Manchester City at the time.

Jose Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford in 2016 after the Dutchman was axed and the ‘Special One’ enjoyed success at Manchester United.

The 61-year-old Portuguese manager led United to a League Cup and a Europa League trophy in his debut season at the club.

Following on from the 2016-17 season, Mourinho fell short of the FA Cup trophy to Chelsea in the 2018 final and finished second in the Premier League title race.

However, the former United manager’s spell at Old Trafford came to an end in the 2018-19 campaign after a poor start to the season led to his sacking.

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Mourinho’s phone call to ex-Man Utd man

Jose Mourinho went on to manage Tottenham and Roma after his time at Manchester United before arriving at current side Fenerbahce.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss was sacked from Roma back in January before he made his return to management with Fenerbahce in June.

Mourinho will be reunited with former side United on Thursday when Fenerbahce host the Red Devils for their Europa League clash at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

The Fenerbahce boss’ arrival at the Turkish side saw Mourinho once again cross paths with Fred, who was brought to Old Trafford in 2018 by the ‘Special One.’

Fred, who attracted interest from Manchester City at the time, revealed that Mourinho swayed him into signing for United ahead of their crosstown rivals.

“I don’t need to talk about Mourinho’s qualities; everyone knows them and the titles he has won,” he told UEFA’s official website.

“He’s a great manager, and I’m very grateful to him. He was one of the key people who brought me to Manchester United.

“When I was at Shakhtar [Donetsk], he called me, saying that he wanted me to go to United, and after a call from Jose Mourinho, I obviously couldn’t reject it.”

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Former Man Utd star Fred at Fenerbahce

United agreed a £47m move for Fred when he was at Shakhtar Donetsk, with the former Red Devils star making 213 appearances for the Premier League club.

The 31-year-old Brazilian midfielder’s only major honour at Old Trafford was the League Cup under manager Erik ten Hag in the 2022-23 campaign.

Fred fell down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag and the former United midfielder left Old Trafford in 2023 and signed for Fenerbahce.

The Brazil international welcomed his reunion with Mourinho and has tipped the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss to succeed at Fenerbahce.

“And now, I’m at Fenerbahce, and he’s here again, so we’re back together,” Fred added.

“I’m very grateful and happy to work with him. He’s a great and respected person who contributes a lot to the backroom staff and the players.

“We want to win many titles, and he came for that; to help us reach the top of the table, to fight for European honours, and I’m sure that together we’ll do a good job here.”