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Jose Mourinho is the first of Manchester United's post-Sir Alex Ferguson managers to take up the role at the beginning of a summer break.

Louis van Gaal had to attend to the Netherlands national team as they fought their way to third place in the 2014 World Cup. David Moyes started on 1 July, 2013, having taken a break between the end of his final season at Everton and the start of his United tenure. In retrospect, that was probably not a great decision.

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Mourinho, of course, did not need a break, having been out of football since Chelsea sacked him in December 2015. At the end of a few months off, he is presumably raring to go.

So what should be on his agenda in an offseason packed with international football tournaments and a pre-season tour of China as he looks to ready the Red Devils' resurgence?

Here's a blueprint for a successful summer for the Special One.

Get the Transfers Right

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This is easier said than done.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks to be on his way, per Andy Burton of Sky Sports News HQ, which would seem a good start. He would provide support in an area United badly need to improve.

Elsewhere, Ed Aarons of the Guardian is among those who have linked Eric Bailly—a promising, versatile centre-back—with a move to Old Trafford. It is early days yet, but it looks as though there is a plan in place to fill the gaps in United's squad. It would seem a sensible one, blending immediacy with a longer-term outlook.

There will also have to be some outgoings. Juan Mata failed to convince Jose Mourinho of his worth to the Chelsea squad, which is what led to his move to United in January 2014. Presumably, he may be at risk of meeting a similar fate again. Squad players such as Marouane Fellaini, Phil Jones and Ashley Young could be upgraded upon.

There may even be other, more surprising departures—few would have predicted Mourinho would have sidelined Mata the way that he did given the Spain international had been Chelsea's player of the season for two season in a row before the Portuguese's return to Stamford Bridge in 2013.

David Moyes struggled in his first window, not helped by his late start or the inexperience of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who had just taken over transfer dealings from the departing David Gill. Only Fellaini arrived to bolster the first-team squad in what was a pretty calamitous summer.

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Van Gaal's first window saw six arrivals, including the high-profile signing of Angel Di Maria. It was an exciting time, but in hindsight, the scatter-gun approach did United few favours. His second summer was about departures, with too many attacking players leaving and not enough arriving.

There were successes in the Van Gaal era, certainly, but it is hard to argue the squad-building strategy was truly effective given United laboured to a fifth-place finish last season.

Mourinho has to get his incomings and outgoings right.

Make a Plan for Wayne Rooney

If Wayne Rooney were a poker hand, then both Moyes and Van Gaal would clearly have been prepared to stake all their chips on it.

Moyes was in charge when the then-28-year-old Rooney signed a lucrative five-year contract. Van Gaal made him captain and invested in that role the right to an automatic starting berth regardless of form.

In order to fit him into the side, he played either the player or his team-mates out of their natural positions. Rooney played at No. 9, No. 10 and in midfield under the Dutchman. It would be extremely generous to suggest he excelled in any of those spots.

He had good games, but his form over the past three seasons has been nowhere near good enough to justify building a team around him. Assuming the club is not going to move him on, Mourinho needs to work out exactly where England's all-time leading scorer fits into the team and the squad.

There are difficult conversations ahead. Striking the balance between managing an expensive and potentially useful asset well and not over-investing in an obviously past-his-prime player will be a big challenge.

Build Relationships with Key Players

Rooney is not the only player with whom Mourinho will have to build a relationship. The summer is the first opportunity to spend time with the players who will be the heartbeat of his new side.

And Mourinho's methods are hugely influenced by the kind of relationships he builds with his charges. Ibrahimovic said in his autobiography, I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, (h/t MailOnline) that Mourinho became a "guy [he] was basically willing to die for."

When Internazionale won the Champions League in 2010, star striker and Mourinho fan Diego Milito said, per Emily Benammar the Telegraph: "Mourinho deserves this the most. He is great coach and he deserves all of the credit for this success. This is the team that he has made. He made many changes to the team that finished last year and we have come so far."

Marco Materazzi, who cried when Mourinho left Inter for Real Madrid after the Nerazzurri's Champions League triumph, once said in an interview with Sport Mediaset (h/t Marca): "Mourinho was number one. His secret was to make everyone feel like they were part of the project."

Speaking in March, per Uche Amako of the Express, Mourinho stalwart Frank Lampard, said: "If I’m in charge at United and I see Pep Guardiola going to Manchester City, Jose would be top of my list. Jose will get the best out of the players there."

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Jason Burt of the Telegraph wrote on 28 May: "There is a saying that Jose Mourinho uses when he first addresses the players after he takes over at a football club. Those at Manchester United will hear it when they arrive for pre-season training: you are either in the boat or off it."

Burt continued:

There will be individual meetings with his new squad. Mourinho, early on, likes to see the whites of his players’ eyes. He firstly does this as a group—to see how they respond, who speaks, who is quiet. And then one-on-one in his office in chats that he even refers to as ‘interviews’ as they are his way of finding out more about players, their character and motivation—and how they react to being quizzed by him. Mourinho will invite them to ask their own questions while he makes it clear that he can be 'very nasty' as well as a 'sweetheart'.

This will be a key part of his task this summer.

Get the Fans Onside

While his appointment was a popular one, there are plenty of United fans with serious reservations about Mourinho. His history makes that inevitable. But given the last three seasons, it will probably not be too hard to get fans onside if things go well on the pitch in the early going.

And even if they do not, there are a couple of key reassurances Mourinho can offer to help build an even more positive relationship with supporters. The first is showing he will be prepared to gamble on young players developed by the club. In Marcus Rashford, he has a perfect poster child for this.

The 18-year old is obviously ready for the big time, so all Mourinho needs to do is make sure he keeps him in his plans. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are similar cases, though their impact has not been quite so dramatic.

Then, there is the issue of style of play. After Van Gaal's one-paced possession football, Mourinho's brand of counter-attacking will likely come as a tonic. Pre-season should give a few hints as to just how attacking he can be. The more gung-ho United can be against teams they are expected to beat, the happier supporters will be.

The final part of this plan is to begin building the siege mentality that has long been part of Mourinho's toolset. It was, of course, also a key part of Sir Alex's, so United fans should be ready to buy into that again.

Make a Plan for the Attack

Van Gaal's failure to get United's attack working properly was ultimately responsible for his demise. Not only did it mean results often went against the Red Devils but also that even when United won, it was often a chore to watch. Mourinho has to fix this.

Anthony Martial and Rashford could have an enormous part to play in any future successes United may enjoy. Continuing their development is a key part of the new manager's job, but it is not an easy one.

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If Ibrahimovic arrives, Mourinho will have to construct a means of incorporating the youngsters and the experienced Swede.

Waiting in the wings is Memphis Depay, a player whose first United season was a disaster but whose talent is undeniable. In an ideal world, Mourinho could imbue Memphis with some of the confidence he lost under Van Gaal's eccentric tutelage. Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira are in a similar camp.

The 2016/17 season could largely depend on the solution to this particular puzzle. There are immediate options available to significantly improve United's performance on last season, even without enormous investment in new talent.

So dealing with transfers, Rooney, building relationships with the squad, starting the process of building a relationship with the fans and making a plan for United's attack. There is no shortage of work facing Mourinho, but if he gets those aspects of the summer right, it will go a long way toward ensuring a successful start to his Old Trafford tenure.

It is going to be a long summer but one filled with a good deal of promise.