It became a familiar stick with which to beat Jose Mourinho.

He does not trust kids, he is not interested in the academy, established talent is the be-all and end-all.

Mourinho has tired of refuting the suggestions, now he can simply point to Scott McTominay.

And Mourinho insists Manchester United’s treasured traditions of developing its own talent is in safe hands.

There has been a player from the club's academy in every United match-day squad since October 1937.

(Image: Getty)

“I don’t want to be the one that breaks that and I think the next United manager – it doesn’t matter when he comes – should also try not to break it.

“It is more difficult now than it was before, but I think it is good. I feel it like a way to keep a certain identity of the club. To keep that identity means, basically, we should bring a new player from the academy every season.

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“You can bring someone to play 10 minutes, then the player disappears and then you can say, ‘Oh, 40 players have their debut with me’. But none of them are important.

“When I say 'bring', I mean (for them) to stay.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

“I think what is happening with (Jesse) Lingard and (Marcus) Rashford is now happening with Scott McTominay… because he is not going to leave the club any more.

“To follow a certain pathway is important. I am doing it with McTominay. Mr Van Gaal had the start of Rashford, I am having it with Scott McTominay and, next year, there should be another.”

Mourinho’s mention of the ‘next United manager’ is intriguing.

He does not want a discussion on his long-term future, but responds to questions about aims and ambitions by re-iterating the length of contract he signed.

The Jose Mourinho managerial cycle

“I signed a three-year contract and when I signed that three-year contract it was basically to try and improve the direction of the football team,” he says.

“And obviously when we want to improve the direction of the football team, it means to try and win titles which we did already last season.

“But when we speak about titles, everyone obviously thinks about the Premier League.”

Mourinho - speaking after a visit to Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in Solihull where he collected the 100,000th F-PACE to roll off the production line and gave a surprise talk to technicians - believes the pressure on United to win their first title post-Sir Alex Ferguson is a little harsh.

(Image: Jaguar)

(Image: Jaguar)

(Image: Jaguar)

(Image: Jaguar)

He explains: “Of course it is an objective but to say the only way we are improving is to win the Premier League is not quite fair because the other teams, the other five or six teams, have the same objectives, the same responsibility, the same tools, they have the same qualities to do it, or even more because they have the stability over the past three years.”

Mourinho clearly thinks competition within the Big Six has rarely been fiercer, but does not necessarily believe that will lead to success in Europe.

(Image: Jaguar)

With City and Spurs already qualified, United as good as, and Liverpool and Chelsea odds-on to follow suit, it looks almost certain England will have five representatives in the knockout stages.

Many believe the Premier League could be on the verge of beginning a golden era in Europe.

Does Jose?

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so because I always say the Champions League only starts in February and in February, the English teams are after December and January where we can play 20 matches over two months and the Germans, the French, the Spanish, the Italians, they all come from a winter break.

(Image: Getty)

(Image: Man Utd via Getty)

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

(Image: Reuters)

“So I think they arrive in better conditions than the English teams.

“It’s also a fact that any match you play in this country, if you don’t go strong, you lose.

“We go to Bristol (City of the Championship next month) in the (EFL Cup) quarter-final and if you don’t go with a strong team, you lose. That’s as simple as that.

“In other other countries, between the top teams and the others, there is huge difference and not just in terms of talent and potential but also in terms of mentality.”

“Here, the smaller teams want to win, want to compete, want to have the courage to try and get a result.”

That is why Mourinho will need deep resources as he prepares to battle on all fronts.

That is why Mourinho might need to that United tradition even more than he already thinks.

(Image: PA)

* Jose Mourinho spoke exclusively to Mirror Sport after an afternoon at the giant Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull. Mourinho was there to celebrate the Jaguar F-PACE and the production of the 100,000th vehicle. The F-PACE is the fastest-selling Jaguar ever and is the current World Car of the Year. During his visit, Jose announced as the 100,000th Jaguar F-PACE customer. He surprised Jaguar’s technicians on the line to help oversee his car as it went through production before approving the finished product and completing production by placing the Jaguar leaper on the F-PACE .