COMMENT: Jorge Mendes is no mug. He knows what he's doing. Just as he knew what Jose Mourinho was doing last week at BT Sport.
It was off camera, but you can be sure it was calculated. With his agent, Mendes, looking over his shoulder, Mourinho was happy to reveal he'd agreed to join "a club in July".
This came just days after Manchester United, through various back-channels, had made it clear Louis van Gaal would be seeing out the season - regardless of results.
For Mourinho and United, it really is all lining up. The only spanner thrown was by his good friend, Eladio Parames, who launched a passionate defense of Mourinho's record in bringing through young players. It was a great coup for the Daily Star to have Parames write a column devoted to Mourinho - and you wonder which side of the fence the idea actually originated. There had been concern inside the Mourinho camp about some of the noises coming out of Old Trafford. Not the least of which were doubts about his approach to local talent - particularly after the sudden emergence of Marcus Rashford. Then, without warning, came Parames' column.
The brinkmanship is incredible. Something we've never before seen at this level. And, again, after Mourinho's admission about his "July" deal, you just wonder if Mendes was given a tap on the shoulder to assure him the job was still Jose's - but to tone down the hard sell.
But where does this leave the United support? It's been an almost faultless PR campaign staged by Mourinho and Mendes. However, Mourinho stating he'll take the job in July was an error. And you hope, having made it off camera, there's still some room for flexibility.
Mourinho - and his staff - need to get inside Carrington as soon as they can. This isn't an Inter Milan or Real Madrid he's walking into, where there's an experienced technical team and a management structure in place. He'll be walking into a club with no recognised, senior football leadership to call on; A failed transfer policy driven by a chief executive whose success comes from the commercial side of the club; a very green academy chief with no record to speak of; and a first team squad as unbalanced as any seen since Sir Alex Ferguson's first seasons in charge.
The place is a shambles. Unrecognisable from the standards of Ferguson and David Gill. Mourinho will take the United job with expectations of competing with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But today's United, from top to bottom, from the boardroom to the junior levels, just isn't at that level. And, from the outside, doesn't appear to be on any type of solid path of getting there.
If you take the commercial side of the club out of the equation, Mourinho walking into Old Trafford in 2016 is reminiscent of what confronted Ferguson 30 years ago in 1986. The Portuguese will have to be hands on. Andrea Berta's expected arrival will be evidence of that. With Ed Woodward, the vice-chairman exec, recognising (finally) the lack of football experience in key roles at the club, the Atletico Madrid sporting director has an offer on the table from United. And who made the pitch to Berta? His agent, Mendes. Mourinho won't just have his hands full rebuilding a shattered first team squad, he will also have to use all his contacts to put in place the football experience needed to lift the club back into the elite. And he can't do that twiddling his thumbs for another five months.
United fans need a lift. And even if it was to be for the final few weeks of the season, to see Mourinho prowling the touchline at Old Trafford is just the shot in the arm the home crowd needs.
The way Van Gaal and his kids were embraced for that victory over Arsenal simply affirmed how dire it's been at Old Trafford these past 18 months. From Rashford's goals to Van Gaal's shock touchline appearance and comical fall, it had the place rocking. The best day seen at Old Trafford since Ferguson lifted the Premier League trophy for the last time. If LVG wasn't so damn well set in his ways. If he'd actually opened his eyes and seen the response to everything he did that day - from the team selection to his own 'performance' - his final months at Old Trafford could've been so, so different.
But now, United are back to square one. And by this time next week could be on its knees. Liverpool in the Europa League. A derby at Manchester City. And an FA Cup replay at the Boleyn Ground.
Van Gaal will see it all through, no doubt. But Mourinho must know the size of the job that awaits him. The sooner he gets behind his desk at Carrington the better it will be for everyone.
And if he wants to kickoff his relationship with the United support on the right foot, he'll have Mendes making it clear he's ready to step in immediately.
