'More than a City, More than an Ego' by Micah Purnell.

The man from rural Catalonia also has his advocates—friends who say that the man portrayed in the media is not the man they know.

"The public image is not what the players see," explains former player Eric Abidal. "He wants players to do things his way, he's quite insistent about that, but his way is successful. When he started at Barca (with the first team in 2008), Pep faced egos and resistance to change.

"We lost our first game at Numancia and drew the second at home to Racing Santander. He called a meeting and said, 'Look, guys, we worked hard in the pre-season but you have to believe in my plan if you want to win LaLiga and the Champions League.' From that moment, the players played like Guardiola wanted."

Guardiola is viewed as tense, controlled, a football obsessive—a principled purist who does things his way or no way.

The same contrast exists between the public image of Mourinho and man behind the curtain. Maybe he's not the strong, arrogant and sometimes over-emotional man you think he is.

"Jose's a great man, a humble man, a gentle man," says Benni McCarthy, who played for Porto under Mourinho. "He's not lost those qualities; they've helped make him successful. The man you see in the media is a completely different person from the guy I worked with and know. He's the best thing that could have happened to Manchester United right now. He's the man to make United great again after Sir Alex Ferguson, the man to bring miracles to the team."

Abidal and McCarthy, who won Champions League titles under Pep and Jose, respectively, tell similar stories of managers who worked eight until eight at the training ground. Different as they are, Guardiola and Mourinho share the same insatiable drive.

On a sunny day in Manchester, gathered fans—and two million watching via City's YouTube channel—saw a smiling Pep utterly charmed by the seven-year-old's invitation for tea because he didn't think he had any friends in Manchester.

Guardiola accepted and asked Braydon for his father's phone number.

Jose Mourinho walked down an aisle of the Aeroflot plane provided by Manchester United's official carrier, one of eight global partners on the club's roster.

He had every reason to feel satisfied. At last, he was United boss, a job he'd long coveted. He wanted it in 2013 but was overlooked in favour of David Moyes. After being dismissed by Chelsea in late 2015, Mourinho became even more determined to get the job at Old Trafford—for it would also provide him with an opportunity for revenge.

Mourinho is a collector who likes to win at the biggest clubs. He's done that in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. He wanted the Barcelona job in 2008 and presented his ideas to the Camp Nou board, but club president Joan Laporta pushed instead for the B team boss and club legend Guardiola.

Guardiola won every trophy possible in his first season as his side were crowned Spanish, European and then world champions. Mourinho went to Inter Milan and knocked holders Barca out of the Champions League in 2010 on the way to winning Europe's top honour in a Madrid final against Bayern Munich. He was soon in charge at the Bernabeu.

By early 2016, United had made contact. Barely a month after describing Louis van Gaal as a genius to journalists in a Manchester pub, United's executive vice chairman Ed Woodward had become alarmed as United went eight games without victory in December 2015. The Dutchman lost the support of the majority of fans and never regained it.

United's contact with Mourinho's agent, Jorge Mendes, was irregular. That changed when it became clear that Van Gaal, despite the wishes of many club insiders, couldn't turn things around by winning the Europa League and FA Cup and finish in the top four.