Paddy McNair believes Jose Mourinho is the right man to bring success back to Manchester United.

Mourinho is widely expected to be named United's new manager this week following the sacking of Louis van Gaal on Monday.

And young defender McNair, who is away with Northern Ireland as they prepare for Euro 2016, is thrilled by the prospect of working with the former Chelsea boss.

"He's a world-class manager. He's won lots of trophies, Champions Leagues and he's worked with the best players in the world," the 21-year-old told Sky Sports News.

"I'll be looking to impress, hopefully when I play in France he'll be watching.

"He wins trophies. Man United should be winning trophies every year so it's a good fit."

Despite his excitement over Mourinho's likely arrival, McNair also expressed his gratitude to Van Gaal, who handed him his senior United debut as a teenager in September 2014.

"I'm very thankful to Van Gaal. He gave me my debut and he gave a lot of young players a chance and a lot of them took it. I'll always be very thankful to him for that," he added.

"He was manager of Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and he always gave young players a chance there.

"At Barcelona he gave [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi their debuts, Bayern Munich; [David] Alaba, [Thomas] Muller and then comes to Man United and gives me my debut. So I feel very proud that he thinks you're good enough to play at that level."