Jose Mourinho has heaped praise in his Manchester United players following the conclusion for their tour of America.

The Red Devils ended their trip to the States on a high with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup, with goals from Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera sealing victory at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Mourinho himself has come under scrutiny in recent days for criticism of his own players, including Anthony Martial and Antonio Valencia, both of whom the Portuguese coach slammed for not returning to the squad both fit, and soon, enough.

However after the win in Florida, Mourinho’s took a vastly more positive note, with the former Chelsea and Madrid boss describing his players as “phenomenal”.

“My professional players were amazing all pre-season because they know we play against good teams, against good opponents,” began Mourinho.

Goals from @Alexis_Sanchez and @AnderHerrera seal victory in our final #ICC2018 outing! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/GaJXqReYHH

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 1, 2018

“We have just a few [senior] players here, lots of kids. Our kids are really, really young because the team of the older ones, the Under-23s, was relegated – the team went to the second division and were relegated, so the quality was not good. So we prefer to bring kids – on the pitch today we had a couple of kids who were 16 years old.

People like Herrera, Bailly, Darmian, Mata, all these guys, were phenomenal during the whole pre-season, playing almost every minute of every game.

Anthony Martial is yet to return to the squad following the birth of his son last week, and his absence and subsequent criticism and the hands of Mourinho has led to reports he wants to leave Old Trafford this summer.

The Frenchman has been linked with both Tottenham and Chelsea, however Mourinho has insisted the decision as to where he will play next season does not lie with him, with his contract at United running until next summer.

Asked if Martial will be returning for pre-season back in England however, Mourinho’s answer: “I don’t know.”