Mourinho United Letter Absurd - Mendes

Super agent Jorge Mendes has described claims the former Chelsea boss has written to Manchester United in a bid to become their next manager as "absolutely ridiculous and totally absurd".

A report in the Independent on Sunday claimed Mourinho sent a six-page missive outlining why he would be the right man to replace Louis van Gaal as and when he leaves Old Trafford.

Pressure mounted on Van Gaal after United's 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday, which left them five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.

United are yet to respond to the story, but Jorge Mendes was unequivocal in his denial in a statement on Sunday morning.

He wrote on www.gestifute.com: "It does not occur to anyone that a coach like Jose Mourinho can write letters to clubs offering their services.

"It is absolutely ridiculous and totally absurd."

Mourinho left Stamford Bridge in December after overseeing a disastrous defence of Chelsea's Premier League title. 

According to the report, Mourinho sets out how he would be prepared to change his style of management to suit the values at Old Trafford and what changes he would make to the squad. 

Following his departure from Chelsea, Blues coach Steve Holland predicted Mourinho would want to soon be back involved in the game at the highest level.

"He's a guy who needs and wants football," said Holland. "There will be clubs and big clubs who will want him.

"And he is not in my opinion the sort of guy who is going to spend six, seven, eight months sitting at home doing nothing in particular."

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One Wish for Wales Boss

The Wales manager Chris Coleman has one wish at the Euro 2016 draw – avoid England.

Having been placed in the bottom pot after ending a 58-year wait to play at a major tournament, Coleman accepts a tough task is heading Wales’s way whatever the outcome of the draw in Paris on Saturday evening.

But Coleman is keen to avoid an encounter with England, one of the top seeds, and all the hype that a battle of Britain would involve.

“Against anyone on our day, and we’ve proved it, we’re a good team and difficult to play against,” Coleman said after a qualification campaign in which Wales took four points from Belgium, the world’s best team according to the Fifa rankings.

“But, if I’m honest, I’d prefer it if we didn’t play England. That would be viewed as a battle of Britain and there would be a lot of things that go with it that could make it a distraction.

“We will play three games and we don’t want it to all be about one of them.”

Wales’s first qualification since the 1958 World Cup was largely achieved through defensive discipline and the attacking brilliance of Gareth Bale.

Only England, Romania and Spain conceded fewer goals in qualifying as captain Ashley Williams marshalled a defence which conceded only four times in 10 games.

At the other end the Real Madrid forward Bale was extraordinary, providing seven of Wales’s modest-11 goal tally, and his absence from Euro 2016 for any reason is simply unthinkable.

But the suspicion remains that Wales could be dangerous opponents in France; they can be hard to break down but are also capable of finding a vital goal.

“You have to go there with that ambition,” Bale said when asked about making an impact at Euro 2016. “We know we don’t concede too many and we can nick a goal against anybody, so there’s no reason we can’t.

“Obviously you might need a bit of luck along the way, but we’ll be going there trying to upset a few people.”

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