Jose Mourinho's Manchester United Deal Delayed By Chelsea Naming Rights

Chelsea's ownership of the copyright to Jose Mourinho's name is one of several image rights issues delaying his appointment as Manchester United manager. Mourinho is understood to have agreed personal terms to succeed the sacked Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, and his agent Jorge Mendes has all-but finalised the deal during face-to-face talks in London with Manchester United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.


Lawyers are now meeting to resolve complications over image rights, and one of these is believed to be Chelsea's ownership of the trademark to Jose Mourinho, despite Chelsea sacking him last December. According to the Intellectual Property Office, Chelsea own the rights to Mourinho's name being used on a string of merchandise including glassware, teddy bears and face masks. A number of these items, including a large Jose poster, are still on sale on the Chelsea megastore website.


The bill for this trademark to be lifted or transferred could reach hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mourinho also has commercial deals with a number of companies of conflicting interest to United, including car manufacturer Jaguar, with one of United's main sponsors being rival Chevrolet.