Jose Mourinho might finally get the long-term stability he has always wanted at Manchester United

Jose Mourinho has never spent more than three-and-a-half years at one club but that might change finally at Manchester United. The 55-year-old signed a new one-year deal at Old Trafford last week which will keep him at the club until 2020, with the option of a further season, following 20 months in charge.

Although he had not been awarded this contract on the back of winning a title like at Real Madrid and Chelsea, Mourinho hailed the new contract as his most 'special' deal.

The Portuguese led Manchester United to three trophies - the Europa League, Carabao Cup, and Community Shield in his first season and United currently lie in second place in the Premier League. They are also in the last 16 of both the Champions League and FA Cup.

Traditionally, Mourinho's first two seasons at a club are his best. In every one of his five reigns as manager of a major club - Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan and Real Madrid - Mourinho has won the league title in his second season but with the advances of Manchester City, it seems certain that Mourinho will fail to achieve this feat at United this season.

His longest spell in charge of one particular team remains three years, three months and 18 days in his first spell at Chelsea and having previously left Porto and Inter Milan after leading them to Champions League glory before his contract was even up, Mourinho is beginning to put down roots at United as he enters the final stretch of his career.

Just a week after signing Alexis Sanchez when it seemed certain that he was destined to become a City player, Mourinho feels everyone at the club is on the same page as he looks to avoid the dreaded third-season syndrome.

"The club wants the same as I want - it's as simple as that," he said at his pre-match press conference.

"The club, the owners, the board, they have the same ambitions that I have and they have the same desire to improve at every level to make possible that these ambitions - in terms of sporting achievements - we can reach them sooner or later.

"We know that stability is very important and we decide to sign a new contract with this in mind. We believe in each other and have common goals." Jose Mourinho said after signing the new contract.

Mourinho has enjoyed greater authority at Man Utd when compared to Real Madrid and Chelsea

Mourinho's admiration for Manchester United has been well-documented. Even when he was managing Chelsea & Real Madrid, he had always held Manchester United and then manager Sir Alex Ferguson in high regard.

After his Real Madrid side knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League with a 2-1 second leg victory at Old Trafford, he acknowledged them as the 'Best team' which was quite unusual for Jose.

While managing Inter, Mourinho had declared his interest in replacing Sir Alex as manager of United. "I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson," he had said

He was said to have been very angry when David Moyes was appointed to the United hot seat and even after his infamous spell at Chelsea, he was determined to succeed Louis Van Gaal as manager.

Mourinho has also followed the long-held tradition of promoting youth from their academy so far. He has given 3940 minutes to Manchester United academy graduates.

Now into his second full season as a United first-team player, youth product Marcus Rashford has played more minutes of Premier League football than all but six members of the whole squad so far in 2017/18.

He even jokingly called himself 'the monster that kills little kids' after questions about Rashford's future. Also, other prospects like Angel Gomes, Axel Tuanzebe, Andreas Pereira and Fosu Mensah seem to be part of his future plans for the team.

The Portuguese manager has certainly enjoyed greater authority at Manchester United when compared with his spells at Real Madrid and Chelsea. The internal politics is almost non-existent at Old Trafford.

As it is clearly evident that even after delivering a league title in his first season, Antonio Conte has struggled to cope with internal politics from the board-room this season and the Italian manager looks destined to leave Chelsea this summer.

The board has backed him so far as they successfully landed all of his primary targets (Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic) except for Ivan Perisic.

They have also altered the plans for the pre-season which would see the Red Devils travel to the United States of America for successive seasons.

With this much authority at the club, Jose Mourinho might finally achieve the long-term stability that has eluded him so far in his glittering trophy-laden managerial career.