Jose Mourinho admires Arsene Wenger after all: Next 15 years is my time at Manchester United

Jose Mourinho, in his successful career, has been seen as a bit of a journeyman, someone who stays at a club for two to three years and then looks for pastures anew. That is partly due to the way modern football functions nowadays, but also due to the way he goes about his business.

Mourinho's style of management is so in-your-face, so intense, that after a couple of years, it starts getting to the players, which in turn makes his position with the club untenable.

So, when the Portuguese was hired as the replacement for Luis Van Gaal, the feeling was that this is an appointment to tide over the tricky period, keep Manchester United in trophy contention while a long-term, dynasty manager is found.

Nobody expected/expects Mourinho to stick with Manchester United for more than a couple or so seasons.

Just don't tell that to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager, though.

"I am ready for this," Mourinho told ESPN in Los Angeles, where United are currently on a pre-season tour. "I am ready for the next 15 (years), I would say. Here? Yes, why not?"

Well, for starters, Mourinho remains a polarised appointment amongst the fans. While he delivered solid results in his first season as manager, guiding Manchester United to two trophies – the EFL Cup and the Europa League – not everyone is convinced he is the right man for the club.

It might have been Mourinho's dream to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson, and there might be a lot of similarities between the two, but at the end of the day, the Portuguese has a lot of convincing still to do that he can maintain the decorum expected of a United manager.

Too many times in the past, Mourinho has ended up being the story, rather than just going about his job and making his team play great football. Add to the fact that he is not known for playing the expansive football expected from a Manchester United manager, it brings an extra layer of doubt.

However, one of the guarantees that Mourinho reportedly gave Ed Woodward before he was given the job was that he would handle himself better and let most of the talking happen on the pitch, and that remains the Portuguese's plan.

"What I try to do in the club is show that my work goes further than the football results, that it goes to areas that people don't think of as a manager's job," Mourinho added. "In my vision, my job is much more than what I do on the pitch and the results that my team gets at the weekend.

"This club, for so many years, was Sir Alex. People got used to it. People understood the great consequences of that stability. After David [Moyes] and Mr Van Gaal, I come to my second year and hopefully I can stay and give that stability that the club wants.

"I will try, but again, I will have to try to deserve that, but that's what I try every day that I work."

Mourinho knows, in this ruthless business, one bad result, one bad week is all it takes to lose your job, making that plan to stay 15 years or more at the same club all the more difficult. But, the former Chelsea manager remains adamant he can do what Ferguson did at United and what Arsene Wenger continues to do at Arsenal – stick with the same team for years and years and build a club in more ways than one.

"I think Sir Alex's career is unique," Mourinho said. "I don't think it is possible to emulate. Nobody is going to be in the same club for so many years, be in the same league for so many years.

"I think Wenger will be the last with a similar story in terms of staying at a club for so many years, but I what I try to do in modern football nowadays is to try to deserve to stay in the club, because in this moment, it is about success.

"You have success, you stay in the club. You don't have success, you don't stay."