Mourinho laughs off United job

Jose Mourinho on Tuesday laughed away suggestions that he might succeed Sir Alex Ferguson, insisting that the Manchester United manager was so "tough and strong" he could last another "20 years".

Whether Mourinho is prepared to wait until the redoubtable Scot is 87 remains to be seen but the Special One's fascination with Old Trafford was inescapable.

He chatted to the groundsman before his Inter Milan side trained on the pitch on Tuesday night and even had a drink with the former United player, Phil Neville, at Inter's hotel in Manchester on Monday evening.

Mourinho also talked of his love for a venue where he was first fully launched into the European limelight five years ago.

Porto's late goal sent Mourinho charging towards the corner flag as United departed from Europe.

"That Costinha goal was the goal which opened doors in England for me," recalled Mourinho.

"It was the goal that gave us the chance to win the Champions League and our career was never the same. Nobody knew this crazy manager running down the touchline, so it was a crucial moment in our career. Our career absolutely changed."

He believes that Porto's eventual victory in the Champions League that season was a phenomenal achievement because his players were largely unknown, although Deco and company had lifted the Uefa Cup the previous year.

"It was a team I started, only with kids. This group of boys that nobody respected came here and beat Manchester United and went on to win the competition - that was something fantastic. I remember that moment very well. We will now try to do it against a very good team."

His respect for Ferguson runs deep, the pair swapping bottles of improving vintage and rocketing price (Mourinho has just broken the £300 barrier).

For all his obvious interest in returning to the Premier League, the former Chelsea manager was determined yesterday not to publicise any ambition for the United post when Ferguson eventually rides off into the sunset, his saddle-bags heaving with winners' medals.

"In 20 years maybe?" Mourinho smiled. "He's tough, he's strong. He's happy, he loves it, he wins, so let him be for 20 more years, I hope."

Suffering from a slight bout of flu, Mourinho's relations with the Italian media certainly seems frosty.

"Our Italian friends see football as a drama [a crisis] in difficult moments. I am not like this. Football is never drama. For me, football is always passion and pleasure. That is the feeling I want to give to my players. People in Italy talk for three weeks of the drama if Inter goes out in the last 16. I like to think of a different picture - of Inter knocking out the world champions."

- The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2009