Jose Mourinho said he hopes to see Sir Alex Ferguson still at Manchester United when he eventually makes a return to the English Premier League.
Currently at the helm in Real Madrid, Mourinho enjoyed an extremely successful spell in England with Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles.
Despite having a good relationship with Real and helping them to a La Liga title last year, Mourinho has repeatedly said he would like to return to the Premier League at one point in time.
The Portuguese signed a four-year contract with the Spanish giants recently, and insisted he means to honor that contract, after which he might consider his options.
"I call (Ferguson) the boss because he's the boss of the coaches and I hope that when I go back to English football he still manages Manchester United," he told CNN.
"I don't think about (the future), especially as I have a four-year contract with Real, I signed it and when I signed it, I signed it because I wanted to be at Real Madrid at this period of my career and I don't think of another club.
"I just say openly that for many reasons that after Real Madrid, Inter, Italy, Spain, Chelsea, England, Porto, Portugal, that after this project, the next step will be England for many reasons but when I don't know."
Mourinho left Chelsea in 2007 after allegedly seeing his relationship with the Blues' billionaire owner Roman Abramovich deteriorate. The Portuguese manager, who has won League titles with FC Porto as well as Inter Milan along with Chelsea and Real Madrid, however, insisted he still enjoyed a good relationship with Abramovich.
"We are in touch a lot and the last example is Michael Essien, who was going to another club and when I (made a telephone call to say): 'Please leave it to your friend', he left to his friend," he added.
"We have a great relationship, in fact."
Mourinho has been linked with the job at Manchester United once Ferguson retires, with the Scot naming the former Chelsea manager and Pep Guardiola as his two preferred candidates to replace him.
