I worked with Mourinho at Man Utd, he was a prankster who put whipped cream in players’ hands when they slept on flights

JOSE MOURINHO was a “prankster” at Manchester United but could also be a “nightmare”, the club’s former masseuse has revealed.

Rob Thornley, 47, spent 19 years working at Old Trafford under the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.

But it was Mourinho, 60, who stood out during his two-and-a-half-year spell at the club between 2016 and 2018.

Speaking on the Undr The Cosh podcast, he said: “The best way I can explain Jose is, on his good days, he was amazing to work for and he made me feel brilliant.

“It made me feel better than Sir Alex [Ferguson] ever did. He made me a part of his little close circle and I loved it.”

Thornley, who also revealed Cristiano Ronaldo sold him a car for a cut-price fee in exchange for a Pussycat Doll’s phone number, opened up about Mourinho’s mood swings.

And that includes a playful side to the ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid head coach – one many may not associate with the Portuguese boss.

He added: “On his bad days, god he was a nightmare. He knew I’ll talk to a player and knew how to p*** a player off and stuff.

“It just depended on where he was at, not just that day, but that part of his contract and towards the end he was really hard work.

“But at the start, the first two years really, Jose was was brilliant.

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“He was a prankster. So like when you get on a plane going on pre-season and stuff, he’d be one of them putting like whipped cream in people’s hands so when they wake up people they’d go like that [splat motion].”

Mourinho finished sixth in his first Premier League season with Man Utd as they won the League Cup and Europa League.

In his second and final full campaign with the Red Devils, he took them to second place in the league.

He was dismissed in December 2018 with United sixth in the table, 11 points adrift of the Champions League places.

Since departing Old Trafford, Mourinho endured an unsuccessful 17-month spell at Tottenham.

He then joined Roma in May 2021 and lifted the Europa Conference League last season.

With eight games remaining of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign, the Italian side sit third in the table.

They are also in the Europa League quarter-finals – where they will bid to overturn a one-goal deficit in the second leg of their tie against Feyenoord on Thursday evening.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk