Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho met with two of his predecessors, Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis van Gaal, at the UEFA’s coaches summit on Wednesday.
Welcome to the 💯 club, Louis!
— UEFA (@UEFA) August 30, 2017
Van Gaal was once the current United manager’s mentor, but Mourinho has criticised the Dutchman on occasions after being hired as his replacement last summer.
He has spoken of how the mentality at United needed to be changed after two years under Van Gaal’s stewardship, as well as stating that he would not have sold some of the players his one-time mentor chose to offload.
On the other hand, the Portuguese has always maintained a warm relationship with Ferguson, whose United legacy he is now trying to recreate, even when the two were rivals during Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea. Ferguson chaired the Wednesday summit.
📸 Elite Coaches Forum 2017 📸 pic.twitter.com/lxyOhy2nzD
— UEFA (@UEFA) August 30, 2017
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, Barcelona’s Ernesto Valverde, and Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez were among the other managers invited to attend the event in Nyon.
Conspicuous by their absence were Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, although it’s likely that both are simply occupied with their respective clubs’ transfer dealings, with the summer window closing on Thursday.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was reunited with Ferguson, as he attended UEFA’s ambassadors’ forum, made up of football legends.
So great to see my old @ManUtd boss in sparkling form at @UEFAcom headquarters pic.twitter.com/KBqxs22qGw
— Peter Schmeichel (@Pschmeichel1) August 30, 2017