Jose Mourinho on Thursday, completed a deal with Manchester United, to his former mentor Van Gaal, who was fired two days after they won the FA Cup against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
By Tuesday, talks between Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes were well under way via phone and email and negotiations were expected to be a formality and completed within 48 hours.
But Mendes and Woodward were forced to meet at United’s offices in central London to rectify a number of image rights issues, including Chelsea’s ownership of Mourinho’s name.
Those issues were smoothly resolved over the course of Wednesday and Thursday and Mourinho emerged from his Chelsea home shortly before 3pm to secure the job.