United Kingdom: Mourinho Reveals He Agreed to Replace Ferguson at Man United Before U-turn

In a new Netflix documentary series about his career, the 63-year-old coach — now back at Real Madrid for a second spell — said: "When I left Real Madrid, I signed to go to Manchester United after Sir Alex. Ferguson, who won 13 Premier League titles over 26 years at Old Trafford before retiring in 2013, confirmed: "He was offered the job, yes. I sat him down and explained the situation.

As far as I was concerned, he was accepting. And then, within hours, it changed. What changed was that Mourinho felt he could not turn down a return to Chelsea, where he had won consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. "One night, he phoned me and he was crying and he says, 'Alex, I can't take it.

I've given my word to Chelsea and I'm not going to break my word', said the former United boss. "The reason he gave to me, I could understand, but I was disappointed.