Jose Mourinho has appeared to land a well-aimed dig at his successor as Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the suggestion that nice guy managers end up becoming puppets.

Solskjaer was initially praised for lifting the dark clouds that had engulfed Old Trafford during the final weeks of Mourinho’s reign, only to end the season arguing the club needed precisely the sort of dressing room overhaul that the Portuguese had called for before he was sacked.

Mourinho has already taken a very deliberate swipe at two of his fiercest critics, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, since leaving Manchester, claiming they did not have the strength of character to cope in management and has now seemingly turned his fire on Solskjaer after United’s season rapidly disintegrated under the Norwegian.

United won just two of their last nine league games under Solskjaer, who initially did well with his positive and upbeat manner, and finished sixth, outside the Champions League positions.

"Generally, the players can feel a certain erosion, especially when you ask a lot of them,” Mourinho told L'Equipe. “When I say that the second season [when United finished as runners up to Man City] was fantastic, I say it because the potential and the objectives were met.