NEW Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho announced his return to English soccer Tuesday by reminding the world that he is a proven winner who will tell his players to forget the past three years of under-achievement and instead target success.

    At an Old Trafford new conference, Mourinho covered a wide range of issues from transfer targets to the need for Wayne Rooney to continue playing as a striker and the departure of Ryan Giggs.

    The 53-year-old, who described himself as “the Special One” and then “the Happy One” during similar media conferences to announce his arrivals at Chelsea in 2004 and 2013, adopted a more serious and less showy approach.

    Improving on last year’s fifth place would not be sufficient, he said, indicating that he intended to return United, which won the last of its 20 league titles in 2013, to its former position of dominance.

    Turning to Rooney, Mourinho suggested the 30-year-old’s future lay up front and not in midfield where England manager Roy Hodgson employed him at the European Championship in France.

    Mourinho, who was out of work for five months after being sacked by Chelsea, also addressed the sudden departure of Giggs from the club after 29 years, denying that the decision had been down to him. “It’s not my responsibility that Ryan is not at the club. The job Ryan wanted was the manager’s job and the club decided that was the job for me.

    “Ryan wants to be a manager. I would never stop him coming back, I would always say yes.”

    (SD-Agencies)