What they said in 2016-17: Manchester United
With Manchester United appointing one of the biggest personalities in management, Jose Mourinho, and breaking the world transfer record to recapture Paul Pogba, things were never going to be boring at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils may have ultimately failed to mount a Premier League title challenge but their Europa League triumph has secured a return to the promised land of the Champions League next term.
There was plenty of drama along the way and we’ve picked out some of our favourite quotes from the key moments throughout the campaign.
Almost six months after leaving Chelsea, two-time Champions League-winner Mourinho is appointed Manchester United manager in May.
“Man United is one of these clubs where you need really to be prepared for it because it is what I used to call a giant club, and giant clubs must be for the best managers,” said the former Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss.
“I think I am ready for it, so I could say I am happy, I am proud, I am honoured – I am everything.”
Undoubtedly one of the highest-profile transfers in history, Pogba returns to the club where he spent three years as an academy player from Juventus for a whopping £89.3 million fee.
“This is the right club for me to achieve everything I hope to,” said the French midfielder.
(Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)
“It was like I’d just come back home. I just went for a holiday.”
Injury woes plagued the Red Devils’ stuttering Premier League campaign and despite a 3-1 win at Swansea City in November, Mourinho was aimed a dig at his own players after he was forced to field a makeshift back-four of Ashley Young, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian.
The Old Trafford chief said: “If I were to speak with the many great football people of this team, they will say many times they played without being 100 per cent.
“For the team, you have to do anything. That is my way of seeing. We have players with problems. To compete you have to go to the limit.”
At the end of February, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice at Wembley to help United beat Southampton and lift the EFL Cup, aiming a dig at rival clubs with slightly dustier trophy cabinets.
“We are winning. After seven months, I have two trophies with this club,” said the striker.
(Photo by Kieran Galvin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“There are other clubs that didn’t win for 10 years. I’ve won what they won in 10 years, so I’m happy with that.”
After United were knocked out of the FA Cup at Chelsea in March, Mourinho, the Blues’ most successful manager in terms of honours, hit back at fans that had jeered him at Stamford Bridge.
He said: “Until the moment they have a manager that wins four Premier Leagues for them, I’m the number one.
“Until then, Judas is number one.”
United’s season would end on a high however as they beat Ajax 2-0 in Stockholm to win the Europa League – Mourinho duly took a smug swipe at his critics and rivals.
“The poets are the ones that win every match,” he said.
(Photo by Visionhaus#GP/Corbis via Getty Images)
“I think I’m going to try to have one of these jobs in a few years because you win every match and I never manage in my career to win every match. I always lose matches.
“For me, it was a victory for a fantastic group, based on pragmatism and based on humble principles. Not poets – just humble people.”
