The Special One v The Chosen One - Mourinho still grappling with the ghost of Moyes at Man Utd

The Red Devils manager is looking to clear up a mess which the now Sunderland boss helped to create in his ill-fated 10-month spell at Old Trafford.

He was meant to be the ‘Chosen One’ but within a year had become the modern-day Wilf McGuinness. Every legendary Manchester United manager seemingly needs a follow-up fall guy, and David Moyes is the current generation’s reference point when it comes to the impossible task that is succeeding a great of the game.

By the time Sir Alex Ferguson let everyone in on his retirement plans in May 2013 the decision had already been made to give Moyes a six-year contract as his successor. Just think, in a parallel world somewhere Moyes is in his fourth season as United boss. Who knows where they might be now if he had been allowed to stay on.

It seems impossible to believe that he would be succeeding in such a scenario given what went on in the Scot’s 10 months in charge at Old Trafford, and his return to the Theatre of Dreams on Monday with Sunderland is a reminder of what many still regard as United’s nadir.

With the club having clinched a 13th title in 20 years the previous summer, the bar was always going to be set high but Moyes was to oversee a sharp decline. The inability to even have a say in the Champions League race eventually did for him, with a horrific home record in particular undermining his reign.