Sky Sports News reported on Tuesday that after months of speculation, Jose Mourinho has finally been promised the manager's job at Manchester United... but only if the role becomes vacant.
Dutchman Louis van Gaal's position at the club has become the subject of intense speculation after two disappointing seasons, with the most recent ultimately ending without a place in the Champions League next year.
It is not just the results but the style of play which has really annoyed fans, however, with United playing a drab, conservative brand of football that has sparked major unrest in the stands.
That aspect of Van Gaal's failure hasn't stopped Mourinho, another defence-minded coach, from being the hot favourite for the job, however.
After meeting with his agent Jorges Mendes in London on Monday, Mourinho was asked by reporters if any agreement had been reached between himself and Manchester United, to which Mourinho replied: "With nobody."
He has however previously suggested he expects to be back managing in July, with only the club itself to be decided. Asked last week about Manchester United's future plans, Mourinho responded: "I know nothing about it really. I don't have a club - in July, I will be back."
Rumours about Mourinho's next move - and particularly the possibility of him taking over from Van Gaal - have been rife ever since the Portuguese manager was sacked by his former club Chelseain December last year.
Ahead of his ill-fated final game of the season on Sunday, which was postponed because of a suspect package found at Old Trafford, Van Gaal spoke of his irritation around the rumours that have over-shadowed the majority of United's season.
"Of course all this speculation about my future for six months makes me angry," Van Gaal admitted, before adding, "but in spite of the attacks of the media... I am here and I am fighting."
With that postponed final league game due to take place later on Tuesday, Van Gaal's week might have taken another turn for the worse: key members of his team - Juan Mata and Morgan Schneiderlin - failed to make the cut for their respective Euro 2016 squads, and it has been rumoured that goalkeeper David de Gea will leave the club if the current manager does not.
OUR VIEW
Don't take any of this latest nonsense too seriously. With the season essentially over but the round of international friendlies yet to begin, there are dozens of football journalists out there all scratching around for some sort of titbit that gives them a fresh angle.
What exactly does this new information tell us, after all? That Mourinho is the favourite for the United job? He already was, and rightly so as he is the outstanding candidate who is currently without a job.
Frankly, any club in the world other than United would have zero chance of landing a coach like Mourinho in the same circumstances - that is, without Champions League football to offer, and a squad riddled with serious personnel holes and bereft of confidence. Would Athetic Bilbao, Fiorentina or Schalke - the other fifth-placed clubs across Europe's big four leagues - have a hope of getting him? Of course not.
The bottom line is that United and Mourinho need each other in equal measure. Whether they're right for each other or not? That's a different question.
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