In a lengthy interview with Gary Lineker for the BBC’s Premier League Show, Mourinho revealed his true thoughts on a number of topics surrounding Manchester United.

The headline message was that the Portuguese believes that Manchester United “are not yet ready to be a dominant force”. He claimed it would be “impossible” to achieve the same level of dominance Sir Alex Ferguson did at the club, the Scot won a whopping 13 Premier League titles in his time at Old Trafford.

“We are not ready to be Manchester United’” he said.

We are not ready to be a dominant force. We are not ready to try and win everything. Because of the nature of the club, and of myself, we are ready to fight for every game, every point. But there is a space between the general ambition of such a giant club and what we are in reality.”

Mourinho also stated three players who the club sold in the time since Sir Alex Ferguson left whom he never would have sold. Angel di Maria of PSG, Javier Hernandez of Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck were on the list.

You can see why Mourinho would have liked to keep them, Di Maria is a magician, Hernandez a relentless goal scorer and Welbeck will work all day and chip in with goals too.

He added, “I found a sad club. Manchester United sold players that I would never sell, bought players that I would never buy.”

Although he didn’t mention the players he wouldn’t have bought he could well have been speaking about Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin who were both shipped out in January to Lyon and Everton respectively.

Although Mourinho doesn’t expect a return to the days where United dominated English football over a 20 or so year period, he does accept that United is a mega club, who can attract any player they want, even without Champions League football. With this comes a responsibility to win, or at least to compete at the top with regularity.

The Portuguese stated, “Manchester United is very powerful, it doesn’t need to be in the Champions League to attract the best players.”

“Zlatan could still be in Paris. Mkhitaryan could be at Borussia Dortmund. Pogba could be at Juventus. We were able to attract the players because they know that Manchester United sooner or later will get there. If any player decides not to come because of that, then I am happy that they are not coming.”

It was an interesting interview where Mourinho was extremely open and honest. Ever since his return to England he appears to have lost some of his charm and charisma, but it looks like as he becomes more settled at United, with the team performing better and better, he is happier and more engaging. Big things will be expected next season, and you wouldn’t back against Mourinho delivering the title, despite downplaying United’s potential.