Mourinho: Woodward one of first to congratulate me

Jose Mourinho revealed he received a "special" message from Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward after being named Tottenham head coach.

Three-time Premier League title winner Mourinho was appointed by Tottenham on Wednesday, less than 12 hours on from Mauricio Pochettino's departure. Mourinho had been out of work since being sacked by United last December following a poor run of form that left the club sixth in the Premier League. Despite his acrimonious split with United, Mourinho was congratulated by Woodward for landing a new job.

"I received messages from everybody, everywhere [from my former clubs]," he told Sky Sports News.

 

November 21, 2019

"Maybe I get the opportunity to apologise for not answering 500 of them that I couldn't answer. I have 700 but only had time to answer 200. But it was curious to see, from my last club, so many people showing me that respect, empathy and feeling. It was nice. All of them were special. The first one was from [United managing director] Richard Arnold. The third, fourth or fifth was Ed Woodward. And they were my bosses."

Mourinho's relationship with Woodward appeared to be strained at times over a disagreement on transfer targets, but he is not expecting that to be an issue with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

"I think we will get on well," Mourinho said. "He explained to me the vision for the club and I embraced that. It was one of the most important reasons I accepted. So when I did that, it's a very good start."

Mourinho will take charge of Tottenham for the first time on Saturday when they travel to London rivals West Ham.