Jose Mourinho has been out of work since December after being sacked by Chelsea
Mourinho has been in his scruffs all week while his representatives thrashed out details of the worst-kept secret in football.
But the 53-year-old Portuguese emerged from his London home on Thursday afternoon dressed in black jacket and tie to meet United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward at a hotel.
And after shaking hands on a three-year contract estimated to be worth £12m a season - he returned home with a bottle of wine to celebrate a job he has coveted ever since he ran down the touchline at Old Trafford after his Porto team had knocked United out of the Champions League in 2004.
Significantly, his deal was finalised on the 12th anniversary of Porto's win over Monaco in the final.
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In a typical quirk of the football fixtures Mourinho's first competitive game in charge of FA Cup winners United will see them play against champions Leicester in the FA Community Shield.
The Foxes were the opponents for his last game in charge of Chelsea before he was sacked last December. And their manager Caludio Ranieri was the man who made way for Mourinho for his first spell at Stmaford Bridge in 2004.
Before that game though Mourinho will take United on pre-season tour to China in July when they will play Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai before moving to an intriguing clash with Manchester City who will be managed by his old La Liga rival Pep Guardiola.