Damien Duff: Jose Mourinho only man for Manchester United

Jose Mourinho to Manchester United makes perfect sense, according to Damien Duff.

“I think he’s the only man for the job,” says the former Ireland international who played under ‘The Special One’ at Stamford Bridge.

“I think after (Pep) Guardiola signing with City, United have to come out and make a massive statement. And there’s no bigger than that.

“I wouldn’t say City are guaranteed trophies, but knowing the way they work from my time at Melbourne — they’re obviously a sister club — I could see them steamrolling teams, to be fair.”

Before all that, the current Premier League season has still to run its course and, like so many others in football, Duff is rooting for surprise leaders Leicester City.

“I’m still just expecting them to slip up, I can’t believe it,” he says. “You might hit me with a team that has done something similar, but I don’t remember one in any league. It just shows you how far hard work and togetherness and hunger can get you.

“Compare the squad to Arsenal, City, the top five or six, it’s night and day. I’d still be a bit worried about them for the run-in. But, like everyone else, I want them to win it.”

Of course, there’s also a personal connection to the story of the season for Duff, who was brought to Chelsea by Claudio Ranieri.

“Ah yeah, he’s a great guy,” says Duff of the Leicester manager. “No doubt he’ll have them all working hard. That’s what he did at Chelsea. He’s an amazing guy, he brought me to Chelsea, so I love him and I want him to do well.

“He’s a bit like the Trap — a lot of charisma about him. All the lads loved him. We knew three or four months beforehand that he was gone out of there (Chelsea). It just shows the respect that the lads had for him — I think you see now at City, some players look to have downed tools, I’m not sure. But at Chelsea we were at it until the end because we loved him so much. And they were good guys as well who just put in a shift.

“He used to be called the Tinkerman because of the amount of changes he’d make to a team — sometimes to a winning team. But I don’t think he does that now. I guess he’s learned. He’s obviously a very experienced manager.”

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