"Here’s really what I think of the situation," pundit Burley told ESPN. "He got in there, I know they finished second last year, he quickly sniffed that he wasn’t gonna get what he wanted.
"He saw Liverpool and Man City kicking on, he saw the adulation the coaches were getting, he saw the adulation for Mauricio Pochettino.
"He quickly understood that the people he was working with above him, the Ed Woodwards and all the people in between, he was not getting his way and for me it was quite clear in the end he wanted the sack.
"There’s no other explanation than he wanted his money and he wanted out and he could throw some mud at Ed Woodward.
Mourinho was sacked in December (Image: GETTY )
Mourinho was sacked in December after a run of poor results (Image: GETTY )
Pochettino has been linked with Solskjaer's job at United (Image: GETTY)
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"He could throw some mud at other players because he realised he wasn’t going to get what he needed to catch Liverpool and Man City in the league.
"He wasn’t prepared to knuckle down and try and do it with who he had, so he threw the towel in and he wanted [to be] sacked and he got what he wanted. He got his pay-off."
Mourinho has since been replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has led United to eight straight wins since getting the job.
If United beat Burnley on Tuesday they can draw level on points with Chelsea in fourth place, albeit only for 24 hours.