"?Jose Mourinho has revealed that he "had to try hard" to persuade Paul Pogba to rejoin Manchester United, amid interest from another big club.
"?The United manager spoke to Goal.com about the work he had to undertake to convince the France international to move back to Old Trafford for a world-record £89.3m fee.
Real Madrid were also in the running to sign the then-Juventus midfielder, but failed to match United's astronomical bid.
And Mourinho stated that Pogba's move back to England's top flight was touch-and-go during a summer-long pursuit of the 23-year-old.
He said: "Oh, it was hard to convince him!
"I had many [conversations] on the phone, lots of SMS.
Mourinho worked his magic #mufc https://t.co/dyMLFP2TNM
"I think he was getting one in the morning from the manager from another big club and one in the afternoon from myself. I had to try hard to convince him to choose us instead of the other one."
Mourinho finally achieved his dream of becoming United boss in the summer - taking over from the sacked Louis van Gaal on a three-year deal.
The Portuguese gaffer believes that he already feels at home at the 20-time English league champions, and says he has always enjoyed the atmosphere at Old Trafford, even when he was the opposing manager.
He continued: "It feels like I am at home. I didn't feel strange or under pressure.
"I am enjoying the situation very, very much so I think we can both "? me and the club "? enjoy this professional relationship.
"For me I played so many times at Old Trafford as an opponent and - winning or not winning - I enjoy so much the atmosphere and the stadium.
"You can imagine that being at home with that amazing support behind the team is a moment to remember as one of the nicest ones in my career."
Mourinho was also quizzed on the Red Devils' lack of success since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
United have failed to qualify for the Champions League in two of the past three seasons, and won just one trophy - the 2015/16 FA Cup - before Mourinho's appointment.
Jose Mourinho tells @MailSport that Premier League bosses are damaging chances of English clubs in Europe https://t.co/KzWNn9fJPN
And whilst disappointed at the lack of top level European football, Mourinho insists things will get better for United's supporters.
He added: "Rome was not built in one day!
"The Champions League without Manchester United is not the Champions League and Manchester United without the Champions League is not Manchester United, so this is the first big step.
"But to get back to the Champions League we need to do well in the Premier League, so the first step is to recover the self-esteem, which I think we are doing.
"The past three years Manchester United went a few steps back and in football it's not just [as if] everything clicks. The biggest example is that we're not playing Champions League.
"[The goal is] to have a certain style of football, a certain way to be in the competition which gives the fans empathy with the team and players, which we are getting.
"Then, we go for the results. We had a good start but it's a long marathon. Bad results will arrive for sure, but let's see how it happens."
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