Jose Mourinho thought he was going to discuss Manchester United’s transfer strategy when the club’s executive vice- chairman used their scheduled Tuesday morning meeting to sack the Old Trafford manager. The Sunday Times has been told that Mourinho was caught unawares by Ed Woodward’s deployment of a meeting during which the Portuguese had hoped to secure the green light to strengthen his struggling team to communicate United’s decision to terminate his contract. While the 55-year-old had been aware that his future beyond the end of the current campaign was in jeopardy, he did not expect to be dismissed while still in the Champions League and with more than half the Premier League campaign remaining.

Woodward was executing a decision made by the Old Trafford board