Jose Mourinho heaps praise on departing Man United CEO Richard Arnold, insisting he is ‘an amazing person’… with Patrick Stewart set to take his job following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s imminent £1.25bn takeover

• Richard Arnold’s exit comes ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe buying a 25 per cent stake
• He was Commercial Director during Jose Mourinho’s tenure as Red Devils boss 
• ‘There’s no bigger waste of time!’ What is the point of the Club World Cup? It’s All Kicking Off 

Jose Mourinho has labelled Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold an ‘amazing person’, heaping praise on the Red Devils chief ahead of his exit from Old Trafford this month. 

Manchester United, who announced the departure of Arnold in November, are undergoing a major reshuffle ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s imminent £1.25billion takeover, which will see the British billionaire take over football operations at the club.

United’s top lawyer Patrick Stewart is taking over the role on an interim basis with one of Ratcliffe’s key aides, Ineos Sport chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc, viewed as a potential permanent replacement.

Arnold, who replaced Ed Woodward as chief executive in February 2022, has been instrumental to United’s strong commercial growth over the last decade, securing a £900million kit deal with adidas and £60m shirt sponsorship with Qualcomm earlier this year. 

However, the 52-year-old was widely criticised over the club’s handling of the Mason Greenwood saga which led to the England striker joining Getafe on loan following a Manchester United U-turn. 

Jose Mourinho has labelled Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold an ‘amazing person’

Arnold has served as Man United’s CEO since replacing Ed Woodward back in February 2022

Man United’s general counsel Patrick Stewart (left) will become the Red Devils’ interim CEO

Mourinho, who is now head coach of Serie A side Roma, was speaking on The Obi One podcast

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Despite this, former Manchester United manager Mourinho was full of praise for Arnold this week during his appearance on The Obi One podcast.

Reflecting on his time at Old Trafford, where he won both the League Cup and Europa League, Mourinho urged that Arnold was a excellent Commercial Director before becoming CEO. 

‘They still have a CEO who is an amazing person, who I would love to have had during my time there, that’s Richard Arnold, who is probably now leaving,’ Mourinho said.

‘I had him as a Commercial Director, not a CEO, and I would love to have had him on my side in my time there, but the club wasn’t easy. I don’t have regrets because I gave everything. 

‘The Man United fans know I gave everything, they know how much I love the club. I went there once with Sky, I was in the box giving my comments and the whole stadium turned to me applauding and singing for me.

Arnold’s exit comes with Sir Jim Ratcliffe poised to secure a 25 per cent at Manchester United

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DSmbrA9z6zI%3Frel%3D0

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‘If that happens when I go to Inter, Real Madrid, Porto or Chelsea you say it’s because of everything we won. 

‘But when you go to Man United, a club with that history, and they do that for a coach who only won a Europa League, League Cup, Charity Shield and finished second, you arrive at the conclusion that they know I gave everything I could.’

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Arnold’s time as Manchester United chief executive was officially over after the club filed papers with Companies House.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire flagged the Companies House ‘Notice of ceasing to be a person with significant control [PSC]’ filing dated December 11. 

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