Jose Mourinho needs Sir Alex Ferguson to step down if he's to take the Manchester United job this summer. The Daily Mail says reports claim that Mourinho is ready to walk away as boss of Real Madrid despite his side being seven points clear of Barcelona in La Liga this season.

But his apparent desire to leave the Bernabeu will not be something the Old Trafford hierarchy respond to unless Ferguson, 70, decides to retire.

Mourinho has encountered a number of off-the-field problems at Real - not least with Spain full back Sergio Ramos - and is said to be tired of the politics.

His availability would alert a number of Barclays Premier League clubs when he has long expressed a desire to return to England.