Jose Mourinho hasn’t ruled out taking charge of Manchester United one day and neither, it would appear, has David Gill.

The chief executive today pointedly refused to answer the question of whether he felt the axed Chelsea manager would at some stage in the future take over the reigns at Old Trafford when Sir Alex Ferguson finally decides to step down.

Gill did, however, categorically rule out Mourinho assuming any kind of role at Manchester United while Ferguson was still in charge.

“It is not going to happen,” he said. “We don’t need it and we don’t think it is appropriate. We don’t want that kind of confusion coming into Manchester United.

“Mourinho is clearly a very successful coach, he has done well here in a relatively short period of time. But we don’t need that kind of interference in our club.”

Gill also made it clear that Ferguson, who is about to celebrate 21 years in charge of United, has no intention of stepping down anytime soon.

“Alex has a good few years ahead of him, so succession plans are not on the agenda at the moment,” Gill said. “As and when Alex decides to step down we will look at all possibilities but we have a great team managing Manchester United on the pitch at the moment and we see no reason to change that at all.”

And while there have been suggestions that Mourinho was saddled with players he did not want - such as Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack - during his tenure at Stamford Bridge, Gill said he did not believe that to be true, nor would he ever interfere with team affairs at United.

“I have never suggested signing players and I don’t think any of the big clubs would ever do that, he said. “It would never work, and it would be a recipe for disaster. And knowing Peter Kenyon as I do, I’m sure that didn’t happen at Chelsea either.”