Why Mourinho is unlikely to take United job even if it's offered...

If we can read anything into Jose Mourinho's recent media game playing antics, then his love affair with Italy looks set to end soon. If you believe the English press, then Jose could be heading back to England to takeover a Premier League club. The question is, which one? Ferguson cannot carry on forever, he could conceivably retire at any time in the not too distant future, possibly as early as this summer. With Mourinho seemingly ready to move on (again) then it could be argued now is the right time to make a move to bring Jose to Old Trafford as Fergie's replacement.

But taking over from Ferguson is going to be the most difficult job in world football. The current United squad is on the road to nowhere, bluntly, there's much rebuilding work to do, and that will be the case even if the champions retain the title.

United do not have an exciting bunch of emerging young players, not apart from the Da Silva brothers. Fergie recently agreed to buy Chris Smalling from Fulham, but he was plucked from non-league football and to say eyebrows were raised when news broke of United's interest would be a huge understatement. Frankly, few can understand what the manager and his backroom team have seen in him given some of his performances for Fulham. United also announced the arrival of Javier Hernandez, the club's first Mexican. The jury will be very much out on Hernandez and Smalling, because both are unproven.

United's central midfield needs to be rebuilt, there are also huge doubts about the futures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. Wherever you look there's problems to address in the current squad: United will probably sell Dimitar Berbatov this summer and so they will need at least two new proven strikers, then there's the goalkeeping options. Van der Sar shouldn't still be the number one, but he is, due to his understudies failing to dislodge the Dutchman. It's the same story with Neville, Scholes and to a lesser extent Giggs. Ferguson has been relying on these veterans for too long.

The biggest potential stumbling block for any incoming manager will be the lack of transfer funds. Mourinho is a chequebook manager and United don't currently have a pot to piss in thanks to the Glazer family. The former Chelsea manager is nothing like Wenger at Arsenal. The Frenchman spends club money as if it were his own. Mourinho is more like Ferguson, both spend big when the needs arises.

Mourinho is hot property and as such he has the pick of the top jobs. Real Madrid and Manchester City can both offer Mourinho the perfect bolt-hole should he decide to quit Inter Milan. Mourinho might well be the best coach in the world, but he is also something of a football gypsy: once he's had his fun, he hitches up his caravan and moves on to the next pitch, never lingering anywhere for too long.

Real Madrid and Manchester City both tick the transfer funds box: both clubs are synonymous with the ever turning managerial exit door.

If you get fired at Real Madrid, as so often happens, it isn't the end of the world - just ask Carlos Queiros who was dismissed but went on to manage Portugal. Manchester City are well used to failure; they are not a big club, not in the sense of tradition, but they have more money than anyone else which makes the job look attractive.

The Real Madrid and Manchester City jobs have more going for them, when compared to the United job, purely because Mourinho's hands would be tied in relation to transfer dealings and so there's more chance of failure and that's something Mourinho isn't used to. In taking the United job, Mourinho would have everything to lose and not much to gain, because the odds of success would be stacked against him.