The Daily Telegraph claim that the Red Devils manager is keen for United to come out and back him with his Old Trafford future still uncertain.
United have endured a chaotic few weeks on and off the pitch and reports circulated last week that Mourinho would be axed after the Newcastle clash regardless of the result.
As of now, the United boss remains in a job after his side launched a late comeback, coming from 2-0 down to beat the Magpies 3-2 and avoid another miserable defeat, lifting at least some pressure on the under-fire tactician.
Zinedine Zidane has long been mooted as Mourinho’s most likely successor but the former Real Madrid coach’s agent Alain Migliaccio has apparently poured cold water on such suggestions.
French newspaper Journal du Dimanche say Zidane’s representative declared: “I don’t think he’ll go to work in England, as it is not compatible with his style or approach to football. I discussed it with him and the idea really doesn’t attract him at all. He has chosen to take a sabbatical year and won’t change his mind on that.”
And the Telegraph claim that people close to Zidane likewise say that he is unsure about taking over a team in the Premier League given the difference in style in England.
It is added that the Frenchman – who won three straight Champions League titles in three years with Real Madrid before leaving at the end of last season – would also have reservations about succeeding a manager mid-way through a season.
However, United have not yet approached any potential replacement managers with it hoped that Mourinho will at the very least stay to the end of the season, provided he can steady the creaking ship.
Mourinho revealed in the aftermath of United’s dramatic win over Newcastle that he had received a vote of confidence from executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward telling him to ignore reports about his future.
“The ones that read the papers, that are connected with social media, they thought maybe I had gone [been sacked],” he told talkSPORT.
“When I woke up in the morning I had an SMS from my board to say ignore what you are going to read and do your job, but if I didn’t have that SMS I could be also convinced [by the reports].”
Mourinho also revealed that he felt he was the subject of a media ‘manhunt’, stating: “As a friend of mine was saying to me, if tomorrow it is raining in London, it is my fault! I think a lot of wickedness and a clear man-hunting which I think in football is too much.”
Despite Woodward’s private message, the Telegraph say that Mourinho now wants United to publicly support him – even though he is aware it is an unlikely move for the club’s hierarchy to make.
It is said that United’s senior figures continue to regularly profess the club’s support for the manager despite the ongoing uncertainty over his position, which derives from Mourinho’s tensions with several of his players but most notably midfielder Paul Pogba.
The manager and United’s club-record signing have consistently clashed since the World Cup with Pogba being stripped of his vice captaincy recently after speaking out against Mourinho’s tactics, while the two endured a frosty stare-down in training last month following a Carabao Cup loss to Derby in which Pogba watched from the stands.
Though the situation has since seemed to diffuse somewhat, Pogba has regularly been linked with a move to La Liga giants Barcelona with doubts over the futures of both Mourinho and the player.
United will hope the current two-week break allows the club to recollect themselves as they seek to get their season back on track, trailing joint-Premier League leaders Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool by seven points.
United return to action with a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Mourinho’s former club Chelsea after the international break, which is following by the visit of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in the Champions League the following Tuesday.