MOURINHO MUTINY

United chiefs spooked as four big-name stars threatened to hand in transfer requests in January if Jose wasn’t sacked immediately

MANCHESTER UNITED bosses feared a mutiny within the squad if Jose Mourinho wasn’t sacked.

Up to four players went to see kingpin Ed Woodward and vowed to hand in transfer requests next month if Mourinho was still there.

It is understood executive vice chairman Woodward was genuinely worried about an exodus of some of United’s leading stars – and decided to act.

The former Reds boss was sacked on Tuesday morning following last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool that left United a staggering 19 points behind their bitter rivals and Premier League leaders.

The latest revelation is a damning indictment of how bad things had become under the Portuguese’s troubled regime.

Senior club sources have revealed the atmosphere around the camp became so toxic that several players were willing to find new clubs in the January transfer window.

It is alleged serious cliques had developed in the Old Trafford dressing room. A large number of players lost faith in the tactics and training methods of Mourinho, who began to run out of allies.

Some senior stars were incensed at his treatment of Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Eric Bailly, while £52million summer-signing Fred was left out in the cold.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has replaced Mourinho on an interim basis until the end of the season.

The first task facing the former United striker will be to unite the dressing room and create more harmony in the squad.

The Norwegian arrived at the club’s Carrington training base just before 8am yesterday to start his first day in the job.

He met with first-team coach Michael Carrick to discuss the squad and mood in the camp before taking training.

Solskjaer has vowed to bring back attacking football to the club and wants his side to play with pace out wide – a quality that helped make some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams successful and famous.

Fergie has given his personal seal of approval to the board’s decision to appoint Solskjaer, who is poised to recall Paul Pogba to his starting line-up for tomorrow’s game at Cardiff City.

Pogba (leaving training yesterday, below) was axed by Mourinho for the recent league games with Arsenal and Liverpool after his relationship with the Portuguese completely broke down.

But Solskjaer has told the France World Cup winner that he starts with a clean slate and is keen to restore him to the team.

United have paid Norwegian side Molde £1.8m to loan Solskjaer until the end of the season but denied reports claiming a permanent compensation fee of around £7m has also been agreed.

Woodward has made Mauricio Pochettino his No.1 target to replace Mourinho and is determined to lure him to Old Trafford before the start of next season.

ARON GUNNARSSON is the boyhood Manchester United fan determined to heap more misery on the Reds and his old bossOle Gunnar Solskjaer.The Cardiff midfielder (left) grew up in Iceland idolising Sir Alex Ferguson’s United sides of the 90s – with Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Dwight Yorke among his heroes.Now Gunnarsson, 29, will tackle United in the Welsh capital tomorrow.The Reds are in disarray after sacking boss Jose Mourinho and appointing ex-bluebirds manager Solskjaer as interim chief. Gunnarsson said: “I had a couple of United shirts as a kid – my dad was a big fan, so he bought me and my brother one or two.“I had Yorke’s name on one and Scholes on the other, but it was Scholes and Keane who I looked up to as they played in my position. Roy’s leadership was something special. I looked at him and tried to learn from him.”Gunnarsson is the only senior player still left at Cardiff who played under Solskjaer in 2014.He added: “United have had a difficult period and we must use that to our advantage.”