Louis van Gaal is no longer Manchester United manager. Jose Mourinho is Manchester United manager. This has been rumored literally for months, but the actual Van Gaal-Mourinho Manchester United manager saga has been fascinating, full of the types of details only found in soccer stories.
Take this snippet from ESPNFC:
But United must first resolve several issues relating to Mourinho's image rights, chief among them the fact that Chelsea retain the right to use their former manager's name on a whole host of branded products and merchandise, courtesy of a trademark registered with the Intellectual Property Office on his return to Stamford Bridge in June 2013.
Sources have told ESPN FC that the trademark, which runs until June 2023, can be cancelled or transferred relatively easily to United, but it is possible that they will have to pay Chelsea a significant fee in order to acquire it.
MOURINHO COULDN'T GO TO UNITED BECAUSE CHELSEA HAD COPYRIGHTED HIS NAME.
Never change, Roman Abramovic. That is some underhanded, Grade A ratf***ing and I, for one, am glad I got to be here to see it play out in real time.
The full list of Mourinho Merchandise owned by Chelsea is staggering.
Jose Lingerie!https://t.co/497hWcspSA pic.twitter.com/eRfzyB8L4s— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) May 26, 2016
Twould never, ever happen in AMerican sports, which is why we love soccer so much.
Never change, soccer.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus