Exclusive: Jose Mourinho’s team at old Trafford

Manchester United are set to imminently hire Jose Mourinho as their new manager, replacing Louis van Gaal.

After months of flirting, Ed Woodward and the Glazer family have finally got into bed with the former Chelsea boss, who will manage across the city from former La Liga nemesis Pep Guardiola.

With the former Barca boss now at neighbours City, and Liverpool upwardly mobile under Jurgen Klopp, the Red Devils are under pressure to get their next appointment right.

But what would Mourinho bring to Old Trafford? How would the team be set up? And who could he bring in?

We asked Ed Malyon how he felt things might be, and here is what he had to say:

Having worked with them in his last four jobs, you could expect Jose Mourinho to bring in Rui Faria, Silvino Louro, Jose Morais and Carlos Lalin if he gets the nod to replace Louis Van Gaal.

Van Gaal’s coaching staff, including the likes of goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, would be unlikely to stay but the key decision would be what to do with Ryan Giggs.

On one hand you'd expect Giggs would be welcomed by Mourinho, who has embraced former players when arriving at clubs before.

Aitor Karanka, now topping the Championship with Middlesbrough, was the chosen assistant at Real Madrid - where Mourinho threw him in at the deep end on several occasions by skipping press conferences.

Playing style and current squad

Until this season we felt like we knew what to expect from a Jose Mourinho team: Defensive solidity, a physical core and one striker.

The decline of his centre-backs, Nemanja Matic's form and Diego Costa's general state, mean that none of those three have been evident. But there are building blocks for him to use at United.

Chris Smalling and an expensive new arrival would likely form the base for his defence while the days of Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo playing centre-back would surely be numbered and Phil Jones could become an Ivanovicesque right-back.

Bastian Schweinsteiger appears to have the sort of mentality that Mourinho likes in a senior player, but has annoyed many behind the scenes at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, there would be questions over Morgan Schneiderlin - who Mourinho allowed Tottenham, Arsenal and United to bid for without showing any interest - even though he profiles best as Mourinho's new Matic/Makelele.

Juan Mata's future has obviously been thrown into doubt after previously being flogged by Mou, but Ander Herrera could probably expect a fresh start and possibly a role similar to that of Oscar in Chelsea's title triumph (before he was denied his wish to leave).

Wayne Rooney was once a player that Mourinho was desperate to sign, but that was a far different player to what we've seen for much of the season from the England captain.

Manchester United's long-term interest in Cristiano Ronaldo would hit the buffers.

Their relationship soured hugely at Real Madrid and, with Paris Saint-Germain having pursued him for so long and so persistently, the move to Ligue 1 would make the most sense - although he has declared his intention to remain at the Bernabeu until 2018.

Given United's need for a central defender and Chelsea's very public pursuit of John Stones in the summer, there is an obvious target to plug that gap - but Everton won't budge easily.

Players at risk of the chop would be the defenders mentioned above, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind, plus Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young.

Mourinho is also keen to bring in highly-rated Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta. Italian Berta is understood to be a close friend of Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes and his arrival would see the job of signing players moved from executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to him.