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"Il vincitore è ... Jose Mourinho!"

Applause rippled out around the Milan Auditorium on January 25, 2011 as the Portuguese was named manager of the year at the Oscar del Calcio awards after guiding Inter to a historic treble eight months previously.

But the man of the moment was nowhere to be seen.

Mourinho was hundreds of miles away at his new home in Spain, preparing Real Madrid for a trip to Osasuna, as Los Blancos looked to somehow keep pace with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

It fell to three of his ex-colleagues to pick up the gong on his behalf: Giuseppe Baresi, Daniele Bernazzani and one Stefano Rapetti, who has been headhunted by Mourinho to become his new first-team coach following Rui Faria's departure from United.

It was Mourinho who promoted Rapetti to the role of fitness coach in his final campaign at the San Siro after being impressed with the work he was doing with Inter's academy.

The pair were kindred spirits. Both have physical education degrees and favour a 'less is more' approach to training sessions with lots of ballwork and no aimless laps around the field.

When Rapetti eventually left Inter to join Gianfranco Zola at Cagliari, in 2014, it was clear a year under Mourinho's tutelage had left its mark.

"I have certain requirements in training - to work not only on the physical but the technical as well - and he was able to put the two things together," the Chelsea legend told MEN Sport.

"His methods had a big influence from working with Mourinho and his fitness coaches at Inter. The methods are very similar to what Mourinho does.

"He works a lot with the ball. I found that really good with drills working on power and speed. It was never in the gym but always on the training pitch and they were very much football movements."

So what can United players expect on the first day of pre-season on July 15?

Rapetti uses mini trampolines, prowler sleds, hand and foot sliders and run rockets to improve players' fitness after they undergo their initial cardiopulmonary tests.

The squad are also encouraged to take part in regular questionnaires where they rate their quality of sleep, general muscle discomfort, fatigue and stress out of 10.

All the while, Rapetti remains popular with his players as former United and Inter striker Diego Forlan recalls of his time with him.

"We used to train a lot together. At that moment he was the guy in charge of recovering the injured players," he told MEN Sport. "He was also there to help you with anything you wanted as a personal trainer.

"He is a really nice guy and a very good professional. He knows what to improve in each player and he had a good relationship with the players."

With his leg tattoo and crew cut, Rapetti blurs the boundaries between player and coach at times.

The Italian stepped in to 'protect' compatriot Marco Materazzi when Bastian Schweinsteiger took issue with the veteran's taunts after Inter Milan knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League in 2011 and hugged Diego Milito after he scored on his comeback from injury.

Tellingly, after Mourinho's departure at Inter, five of his successors, including Rafa Benitez and Claudio Ranieri, kept Rapetti on their coaching staff.

For Andrea Stramaccioni, who managed Inter in 2012-13, it was a simple decision.

"Stefano is a direct and prepared man who loves his job and does it with a great passion and professionalism," he told MEN Sport. "He manages to get into the psyche of each player and find the key to get the best out of them. He is very attentive and always wanting to improve himself.

"He had the right distance between the players when it comes to personal and professional relationships. The right mix that especially in high-profile teams can make the difference in influencing an individual player's performance.

"To convince a champion to work to improve and be ready for great physical and psychological challenges."

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