Such affection from the former Chelsea manager seems hard to equate given the pair's fractious relationship during his time at Stamford Bridge. The two repeatedly clashed in the Portuguese's last full season in England in 2007, with Ferguson accusing Mourinho of being "on a personal crusade" to cost United points, only for the Scot to be told that his belief that "other people are stupid" is "not a good quality". But Mourinho has now told sports network, Gol TV: "Among all the coaches in football I can say that Ferguson is my best friend."
To be fair, the Portuguese has always been at pains to point out his respect for Ferguson, stating that it was the United manager's tradition of sharing a glass of wine with an opponent after a game which dictated his approach to life in the Premier League. Their apparent rapprochement will only serve to strengthen the impression that Mourinho is Ferguson's most likely successor at Old Trafford when the 68 year-old eventually elects to retire from football.
It is a view likely to be reinforced by Mourinho's continuing tendency to express his admiration for the Premier League. "I prefer [to manage in] England," he said. "I think that in Portugal, Italy and Spain there are some fans who prefer the day before and day after a match rather than the match itself."
Ferguson, meanwhile, appears to be stepping up his attempts to sign a new goalkeeper as cover for Edwin van der Sar after Danish international Anders Lindegaard admitted the United manager was interested in signing him.
The 26 year-old, currently with the Norwegian side Aalesunds, said: "I know there is interest from United. It is not just coming from the media."
Ferguson has also dispatched scouts to track the progress of Dutch international Maarten Stekelenburg, the Ajax player, and Manuel Neuer, the German international currently at Schalke. He has also been linked with Igor Akinfeev, the Russian goalkeeper, after he impressed for CSKA Moscow against United last season.
United will again have a reduced ticket allocation for their Manchester derby clash with City at Eastlands on Nov 10.
City officials cut United's allocation by 10 per cent for last season's encounter in April after deciding to take action over the persistent standing of their fans.
In confirming their neighbours would again receive just over 2,500 tickets, City officials are stressing it is a club policy that has been used against other sides, including Liverpool and Newcastle already this season.
United have had similar issues in the past and had allocations cut at Middlesbrough, plus at Sunderland and Bolton this season.
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