A month after leaving Manchester United, Jose Mourinho emerged earlier this week to give his first full-length interview since his sacking. 

The Portuguese was speaking on BeIN Sports but disappointingly, he couldn't talk about his former club explicitly. 

That's because his severance package included a non-disclosure agreement. 

Simply put, had he opened his mouth about his time at Old Trafford in any detail, it could have cost him a hefty £24million. 

However, he still provided us with a handful of fascinating soundbites, commenting on the relationship between managers and players in the modern game and insisting he still belongs at the top. 

Even if he couldn't mention any United players by name, many will have understood his thinly-veiled dig at the likes of Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial. 

He also commented on the structure of clubs in general - but much of what he said could well have been about United. 

Mourinho's obvious dig 

“A club must have an owner or president, a CEO or direct executive, a sports director or football director and then a football manager," Mourinho explained.

“This is a structure that can cope with all the problems that modern football is bringing to us.”

For a manager who demands total control, it may come as a surprise to hear him advocating such a hierarchy. 

Indeed, The Sun report that the United board have themselves been left stumped by his interview because it was Mourinho himself who stopped them appointing a sporting director. 

The newspaper suggest the club are therefore "bemused" by his comments. 

Ed Woodward's penchant for business over football has often attracted criticism, but almost six years on from Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, he was ready to delegate much of his responsibility by bringing in a director of football. 

Yet he was ultimately put off because he knew it would upset Mourinho. 

It's probably just as well the 55-year-old can't talk about the Red Devils outright, though it would certainly be intriguing to hear his thoughts on their turnaround since his departure. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has won all six of his games in charge so far and will be looking to make it seven against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.  

Do you think United need a sporting director? Have your say in the comments.