Manchester United has announced that their manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect.
The official statement on the club's website reads, "The club would like to thank Jose Mourinho for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future."
"A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Mourinho's job was under fire throughout the season after United made their worst ever start in the Premier League after 17 matches. This announcement comes in the aftermath of United's defeat to arch-rivals, Liverpool at Anfield.
United, lying at sixth place on the league table with a goal difference of 0, is currently 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool and 11 points off fourth place Chelsea.
A sense of disunity started surrounding Manchester United as Mourinho had reportedly fallen out with a number of his players including the club's record signing, Paul Pogba. Supposedly other players like Anthony Martial and Eric Bailly were also not happy with the way the manager was conducting things behind the scenes.
The 2017-18 season was Mourinho's third season at the club and going by his track record, the sack was coming. The Portuguese seems to always fall out with the players or the management in his third season but is still regarded as one of the greatest managers because he delivers trophies.
Although he won two titles in his first season, his reputation took a beating as he failed to win the domestic title in his second season – something he had done with each of his previous clubs.
Mourinho and executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, also seemed to have fallen out after the latter failed to deliver any of the centre backs targeted by Mourinho in the summer. The club concluded that of the players in that position targeted by Mourinho whom they could potentially land, none was an upgrade on the existing squad.
Mourinho's troubles were compounded by United's immediate rivals, Manchester City when they won the Premier League last season notching up a record 100 points in the process. To make things worse, Liverpool reached the final of the Champions League, a tournament where United was knocked by the unfancied Sevilla.
It will be interesting to see who the club appoints as their manager considering the heavy rumours linking Zinedine Zidane to the club. In case the club chooses otherwise, Mourinho's adversary Antonio Conte is also available in the market.
