Jose Mourinho has left Manchester United with immediate effect today.
The Portuguese manager guided the club to Europa League victory as well as picking up the EFL Cup since he joined in 2016, but had struggled to keep up with the pace in the league during his tenure.
United currently lag 18 points behind neighbours Manchester City and 11 points adrift of the Champions League spots.
Early indications suggest Zinedine Zidane could replace Mourinho at Old Trafford after the Frenchman showed interest in the position.
A club statement released on Tuesday morning read: “Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect.
“The club would like to thank Jose 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.”
The reaction so far has been mixed.
One fan said “good riddance to bad rubbish” while another said he will always be remembered as the “Special One”.
Gary Lineker said: “With Man Utd 19 points behind Liverpool after 17 games, with the vast majority of players playing way below their best…and dour football to boot. Given Mourinho was allowed to spend hundreds of millions on those players the split seemed inevitable”.
Joe.co.uk posted this video:
BREAKING: Manchester United have sacked Jose Mourinho pic.twitter.com/ySpRdzT8Gz
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) December 18, 2018
