Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has won over players with a new policy of a day off every week.

The Manchester Evening News says Mourinho's predecessors Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal all reserved the right to haul United players in for training had they suffered a defeat, yet Mourinho has specified an unalterable day off regardless of the most recent result, it is understood.

The move has especially pleased United's senior players, who are now able to plan days out with their family and children in the knowledge they will not be called into Carrington at the 11th hour.

Mourinho's rationale is that as United players they are bound to take defeats badly and, by summoning them in for an unscheduled training session, he could exacerbate the players' domestic climate. United players are 'chuffed' with the new regime, with the fixed days off cited as the most pleasing aspect about it.