5 reasons why Jose Mourinho will break his contract extension jinx 

Jose Mourinho and his third season syndrome is pretty well-known. Though the Portuguese has won accolades everywhere, his managerial reign often ends in acrimonious circumstances by the time the 3rd season ends. Usually, he signs an extension before everything starts going wrong. It happened at Real Madrid and it happened more recently when Chelsea's 2015-16 season went up in flames after Mourinho signed a new contract following their title-winning season.

Usually the results start going wrong, relationship with the best players in the side takes a nosedive and eventually, Mourinho leaves. Hence, his recent contract extension at Manchester United has been regarded as an indication that he might be gone next season and the troubles with Paul Pogba clearly point towards such an outcome.

That is all on the surface level, though, and once one digs below the surface, there is enough evidence to suggest that Jose Mourinho could be at United for a few years yet.

Here's why...

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#5 The signing of Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez

If a coach is on his way out or has no plans to stay for more than a season at best, then there is no way on earth that a club would sanction the purchase of a 29-year-old attacker in January and that too on massive wages.

Alexis Sanchez was well on his way to joining Manchester City but United stepped in at the last moment and took him to Old Trafford by completing one of the biggest deal in English football. The player is reportedly on £350,000 week, and on a three and a half-year contract.

If Mourinho had been on his way out then such a move would never have been completed and the club's willingness to trump their rich rivals with a financial package that the player could not turn down is a clear indication that Mourinho has United's backing.

The Portuguese coach's grumblings about spending and City's astronomical spending seems to have hit home. The Sanchez deal clearly demonstrates that Mourinho has no reason to want to quit Old Trafford any time soon.

#4 Paul Pogba 'rift' has been overblown

Jose Mourinho with Paul Pogba

It is true that in his last two stints, Mourinho fell out with the best players at the respective clubs and those troubles proved to be fatal. Over the past few weeks, reports of similar sort have surfaced about his relationship with United's record signing Paul Pogba and the fact that he actually benched him in a crucial away game in the Champions League added further fuel to the reports that had been circulating.

However, there is a difference. Assuming that those reports are true, Mourinho's rift with Pogba is not similar to what went on in his previous two stints at Chelsea and Real Madrid. At Chelsea, he had fallen out with Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, three players who had been instrumental in the club winning the league the previous season.

At Real Madrid, it was the iconic club captain Iker Casillas. In comparison to those players, Paul Pogba has not achieved anything tangible yet and in spite of the fact that the club has decided to build the team around him, it is Jose Mourinho who should have the backing of the club.

There is talk that he wants Pogba to put in more of a defensive shift and it is hardly a crime if a coach demands it from his central midfielder. Pogba has achieved practically nothing during his stint at United and perhaps, for once, Mourinho is not entirely wrong in his assessment of the player.

#3 The Pep Factor

Bitter rivals

When Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were both appointed as managers of the two Manchester clubs, there was genuine excitement among football fans that the heady days of their Real Madrid-Barcelona pitched battles would be recreated in England.

As is well known, the two men are polar opposites in the way they prefer to win games and there is no doubt that there is a nasty edge to the rivalry that has often reared its head from time to time.

For instance, when Mourinho won the league with Chelsea in 2015, he said, “Maybe in the future, I have to be smarter and choose another club in another country where everybody is champion. Maybe I will go to a country where a kitman can be a coach and win the title.” It was a clear dig at Pep Guardiola, who was managing Bayern Munich at the time and had completely dominated a league in which, truth be told, not many teams could challenge them.

Last season, neither United nor City challenged for the league but this season Guardiola has completely overshadowed Mourinho and United. City are marching towards the league with laughable ease and that is something Mourinho is unlikely to let go easily. He eventually did wrest the Spanish title away from Pep's legendary Barcelona side in 2012 and he would definitely like to do the same with City next season.

He simply can't concede defeat to his biggest rival and that would be a huge factor in him staying at United for some more seasons.

#2 Manchester United need him to stay

Mourinho waves at the Manchester United faithful

Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson brought the curtains down on his glittering 26-year stint at the club, Manchester United have been in the doldrums. David Moyes' stint was an unmitigated disaster, while Louis van Gall made a string of bizarre choices which eventually led to his ouster.

They were both uninspiring appointments and pushed the club back. Chelsea might have been in the relegation zone when Jose Mourinho left the club in 2015 but there was no doubt that he was an A-lister and someone who had the aura that was needed for a club like Manchester United. Louis van Gaal probably had it but he was past his prime when he was appointed.

Jose Mourinho is the safe pair of hands that United needed and still need. In his very first season, he guided the club to the Champions League by winning the Europa League when the side could not compete in the league and the squad is a work that is still in progress.

Needless to say, the club has spent a lot of money and are still far away from being title challengers in the league, however, he is still the best man for the job. A huge organisation like United cannot continue to change managers every few season and his contract extension seems like for real this time.

#1 It is his dream job

A young Mourinho with Sir Alex Ferguson by the touchline

In Spanish journalist Diego Torres' book The Special One- The Dark Side of Jose Mourinho, that chronicled the Portuguese manager's stormy stint at Real Madrid, the author states that Mourinho was in tears when Manchester United appointed David Moyes as their manager in 2013.

The 'Special One' had tried to forge a relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and even said that 'the best team lost' when his Real Madrid side knocked United out at Old Trafford in that year's Champions League. The grand plan was perhaps to endear himself to the powers that be at Manchester United and get the job that he had been after for more than a decade.

Ever since he first came into prominence in Europe following the wild celebrations on the Old Trafford touchline after his Porto side beat United in the 2004 Champions League, it was the job Mourinho wanted. Even when he had been sacked by Chelsea, he had been desperate to replace Louis van Gaal at the hot seat.

There is a belief that Mourinho wants to create a dynasty at Old Trafford like Sir Alex and hence, it is the job that he had been craving for so many years. It is highly unlikely that he would throw it away after signing an extension and it would be surprising if things go in the same direction like in his previous jobs. This is possibly the biggest reason why this time it's different.