LIVERPOOL: David Moyes is odds-on favourite, ahead of Jose Mourinho, to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United.

An announcement is likely before the weekend. Moyes met Everton chairman Bill Kenwright in London today and is reportedly expected to talk to his players in the morning.

Fellow Scot Moyes has won nothing at Everton but in more than a decade at Goodison Park he has brought stability and Premier League consistency to a club with a relatively small budget.

Everton are likely to finish above rivals Liverpool for the second successive season, the first time they have achieved that in the top flight since 1937.

Moyes’s Everton contract runs out in the summer and no agreement has been reached over a new deal.

Mourinho option

The 50-year-old has previously said that he wanted to wait until the end of this campaign before deciding whether to extend his time at Goodison Park into a 12th year.

Moyes was linked with a move to Chelsea earlier this season but a return of the Special One Jose Mourinho has always appeared to be the favoured option of owner Roman Abramovich.

Mourinho is expected to leave Real Madrid this summer and never made any secret of his admiration of both Ferguson and Manchester United.

If United’s board felt that the succession demanded a man of charismatic self-confidence, able to withstand the pressures, then Mourinho might be that man.

Outsiders are headed by Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp as well as  Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer, who worked after retirement on the Old Trafford staff before developing his career back home in Norway.

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