Jose Mourinho wants to stay as Man United manager 'for many years'

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he hopes he can bring success to the club and have a long stay at Old Trafford.

Mourinho is in his first season at Old Trafford and has his side battling for Champions League qualification -- either through the top four or by winning the Europa League -- while already securing the EFL Cup and Community Shield.

And he hopes he will be able to stay at the club for "many years" as they try to bring back the glory days of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. 

"[A minimum of] Three years, I think I will be here, I think the club understood the necessity to give stability to all levels," Mourinho said in an interview with Portuguese TV channel SIC, published in a number of national newspapers.

"I believe if we do that, even without a massive success, which is harder in football, even more so in England, but with some type of success, I see myself staying here if they want me to stay.

"If they want me to stay I will stay, but like I say, we both need to be happy. I'm not a type of person to be at a club 10, 15 years, without real success.

"I need to have true success, my life is like that, I need that pride and happiness. In all honesty, I would like things to go well and be here many years."

United have been the dominant force of the Premier League era, winning 13 titles and two Champions Leagues, but have fallen down the pecking order since Ferguson retired.

"I think the club got so used to winning and having success, maybe they didn't realise other clubs were growing, even when Sir Alex was in his last years at the club," Mourinho added.

"The Premier League were creating conditions for the other clubs to become financially powerful and that has definitely transformed the league.

"Nowadays all clubs have grown and with TV rights being shared, it's almost unique in European football.

"It has allowed that difference in power to be slowly diluted, in a way that Manchester United stopped being the all-powerful Manchester United, and became part of a group of five, six, seven very powerful clubs. They are followed by other clubs, less powerful, but not poor clubs.

"United had a bit of everything happening at the same time. The exit of Sir Alex, unique and more than just a manager, the change of powers in the Premier League and a period of instability at Old Trafford; three managers in three years if you count Ryan Giggs.

"It was a period of some instability, disbelief and even distance with the fans."