Jose Mourinho is 53. Jürgen Klopp is 49, Antonio Conte is 47, Pep Guardiola is 45, Mauricio Pochettino? Just 44. Does the fact that Mourinho is already in his 50s matter?

Mourinho very much portrays himself – with justification – as the man who defies history, flouts convention. But football has few managers who go to a big club, one having to be rebuilt to be made competitive again, in their 50s and enjoy fabulous success.

OK, Claudio Ranieri is 64 and won the Premier League title last season in his first campaign at Leicester City. But Leicester did not need a rebuild. They just needed a shrewd Tinkerman. And it was, by common consent, a strange old season.