Jose Mourinho would prefer to wait until the summer to return to the sidelines in the summer so he can start a season fresh.

Pressure continues to mount on Louis van Gaal as Manchester United is in a run of poor form.

Mourinho, though – speaking to students at an event in Singapore – said he was satisfied to wait for the “right project”, playing down talk of a return to management before May. “I always feel that it’s better to wait, not to rush, better to be calm, to wait for the right moment, the right move,” he said. “I feel that starting the next season with a new club and project is probably the best thing for me.

“I’m travelling, enjoying my family, enjoying my friends and my life, and I wait to see what happens. The reality is I like football so much, I miss football, and when I have the chance to be back I will come back.”

Mourinho is widely expected to become the next manager of United.

“I read so many different things. One day it says I go to China, another day it says I go to Italy, and people say I’m back to Inter Milan. I’m here – probably, you are saying I will do the Singapore national team. But the reality is I have no job, and at the moment I’m happy not to have a job.”