He also expressed confidence in Mourinho’s coaching ability saying that the Portuguese would have to “galvanise” his boys.
The 39-year-old told Mirror: “Harry Maguire did great at the World Cup but of the players potentially available he would not be my first choice. I would go for Alderweireld, all day long because he is suited to the way United play.
“But it will take more than a quality defender to galvanise them, and this is where you have to respect Mourinho’s track record and his history of winning trophies.
“Do I think he will still be the manager of Manchester United this time next year? Put it this way: I hope so, because if he is still there, it means they have been successful and won something.
“I wouldn’t write him off. He has won 20 trophies as a manager.
“He knows how to galvanise teams by instilling a siege mentality sometimes and he is going to need all his dark arts to create that atmosphere of ‘Manchester United against the world’ to make them formidable again.
