'He is my boy' - Jose Mourinho names Man United player he loved coaching

The Special One coached United from 2016 to 2018 in what could be best described as combustible, yet somewhat successful, winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League.

It means he is United's most successful manager post-Alex Ferguson as the only coach to lift more than one trophy.

Although it ended badly, he looks back fondly on some of the players he worked with.

Talking to Rio Ferdinand on YouTube channel Five, the coach, who has just ended his time at Roma, was hesitant when asked who he enjoyed coaching as he did not want to leave out some iconic names after coaching some of the biggest teams in the world.

"The players that I most enjoyed [coaching] were the ones that gave me everything. Everything.

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"And there are dozens and dozens and dozens, and maybe they aren't the most talented ones, just the ones that gave everything.

"The ones that I felt they couldn't give anything more than what they gave, these are my players.

"Then if you want to, kind of, preferred… I don't want to be unfair to people and I will be unfair but when you play a kid, the kid becomes your kid for life. That is always my feeling.

"So I look to Raphael Varane [at Real Madrid] now at the end of his career, he is my kid. When I look to Scott McTominay, [Paul] Pogba on the bench, play Scott McTominay in Champions League against Sevilla, he is my boy.

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"When I go club to club, I find my boys and they are always going to be my boys."

McTominay made his first start for United in the final game of the season in 2016/17 in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

He then featured prominently over pre-season and became more and more a staple of the first-team, though kept out of the side largely by Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba.

At the end of the 2017/18 season, Mourinho made up his own award to give to McTominay, giving him the 'Manager's Player of the Year' award after making 23 appearances.

It was not until Mourinho left, though, when McTominay became a staple of the first-team, forging a partnership with Fred under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

This season, the Scotland international has become an attacking instrument under Erik ten Hag, leading the goalscoring charts for the Red Devils with eight goals in 28 appearances.

In total, McTominay has made 237 appearances for his boyhood club and that is largely down to Mourinho, who helped bring through the midfielder.