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Jose Mourinho had his first official press briefing on Tuesday since taking over the reins of power at Old Trafford a little over a month ago.

The Portuguese appeared excited about his new adventure as he looks set to begin the uphill task of return Manchester United back to its glory days.

The rebuilding process has already begun with the acquisition of macabre signings in Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Although he vividly revealed his disappointment at not taking part in the Champions League with Manchester United on his maiden season, the gaffer reiterated that his main ambition was to win trophies with the Red Devils.

Here are four key observations from Mourinho’s first ever press conference.

 

Jose is still Jose

He may be at a different club in a more demanding role, but Jose Mourinho still exhibited the same hunger and enthusiasm he had as a young manager from Porto.

In typical Mourinho fashion, the 53-year old had a dig at Arsene Wenger for not winning a title in over ten years- albeit indirectly while defending himself about his unceremonious exit from Chelsea last season.

Furthermore, Mourinho expressed his desire to have everything from winning matches to playing well and not conceding: none of which was unexpected as success in the quotas have helped define his career.

 

Rooney is still a striker

Having scored 249 goals in his illustrious Manchester United career, Wayne Rooney is only four goals adrift of surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton’s all time goal scoring record for the club.

However, Rooney has for the vast majority of his terminal years played in midfield for United: but that’s about to change.

Mourinho insisted that without taking anything away from his breathtaking long passes, Rooney- in his eyes- is and will always be a striker.

Now having vehemently declared that the skipper will never play in a number six or eight role in United colors, how then will Rooney play as striker with Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford in the team?

The most probable formation is Rooney in the number ten role with Rashford and Ibrahimovic as the furthest players.

 

Youthful continuity guaranteed

Jose Mourinho may have in the past been accused of not bringing up enough youthful players, but the Portuguese was quick to allay such fears stating that he has throughout his managerial career promoted 49 academy players into the senior team.

Although he never gave any concrete names, the new Manchester United manager has done enough to keep up the United way by offering new long-term contracts to academy graduates Marcus Rashford and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

 

Four major signings in the summer

Jose Mourinho revealed his target for the summers is to secure four new signings: three of whom are already Manchester United players.

Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have since been officially unveiled as Reds, which begs the question: Who will be Jose Mourinho’s fourth and final signing of the summer?

Could Paul Pogba could make a king’s return to Old Trafford?

 

Written by Brian Humphrey

Follow Brian on Twitter @brihum

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