When Jose Mourinho decided to leave Porto in 2004 Liverpool, Inter Milan and Chelsea wanted him. When he left Chelsea in 2007 Inter made sure they got him.

When Mourinho left Inter in 2010 it was because Real Madrid came calling. When he left Madrid in 2013 it was to return to Chelsea having given his word despite – it was claimed – late overtures from Manchester United. So when he left Chelsea in 2015 he eventually took over at United.

The point is that Mourinho has always been a man in demand. But what happens if he loses the United job? Where does Mourinho go from there? Even though he is still just 55 it is hard to see another major club hiring him which is why he has to step back and consider what is really going on at Old Trafford. He has nowhere else to go.

The fact is this as good as it gets. Not in what is happening at United, a club in turmoil, a team in crisis, but being the manager of that club; one of the biggest, best-resourced, best-supported clubs in world football. And, crucially, one where there are not the internal battles, the factions and internecine squabbles he has encountered elsewhere. Whatever the problems those divisions do not exist at United.