Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has been told he CANNOT serve the traditional Christmas Day dinner this year,

The Sun says it is a club tradition at Old Trafford for the manager to serve the festive meal, with Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis van Gaal previously giving the players their food.

But that will not be the case this year with head chef Mike Donnelly insisting his staff serve the meals when the players sit down at Carrington next Friday.

A United insider said: “The United Christmas lunch used to be one of the highlights of the year, with the players enjoying being served by the people who usually bark the orders at them.

“But this year the head chef has took matters into his own hands and told the manager and his team that they won't be serving the food.

“The problem is when the management do it, they pile the plates high and loads of food ends up wasted in the bin. When you're cooking for 200-odd people, that's a lot of time, effort and money going straight into the bin."

Mourinho takes his side to West Brom on Sunday afternoon following their victory over Bournemouth at Old Trafford in midweek.

United are 11 points off the title pace as they bid to hunt down runaway leaders Manchester City.