Jose Mourinho backs Manchester United assistant boss Rui Faria to take over at Arsenal

Rui Faria will have the full blessing of his “big friend” Jose Mourinho in the event of receiving an offer to become Arsenal’s next manager.

Faria, assistant manager to Mourinho at Manchester United, has emerged as one of a long list of contenders to succeed Arsene Wenger, who is stepping down at the Emirates Stadium at the end of this season.

It is believed that Faria, who has worked with Mourinho at several clubs since 2001, has ambitions to become a manager in his own right.

Max Allegri, the Juventus coach, is understood to be the favourite to become Arsenal’s manager, but the club are considering a number of other options as Wenger’s 22-year reign nears an end.

Whether Faria’s chance comes with Arsenal this summer or somewhere else in the future, the United manager has promised his full support to his assistant should he decide to move on.

Asked if he thought that Faria would be a good fit for Arsenal, Mourinho said: “I think so, yes. You ask me if I think it would be a good fit and I say: Yes. And I say it because he is more than my assistant, he is my friend.

“If my friend has the possibility one day of a big job, I would help him to pack and to carry the bags and to wish him luck.

“So if one day that is going to happen, the first one to be happy would probably be myself because I met him when he was a kid in his university and we were together for 18 years.”

Faria, like Mourinho, never played top-level football, but became a significant coaching figure after meeting the future United manager during a seminar day at Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium in 2000.

At the time, Mourinho was assistant to Louis van Gaal at Barcelona but, when he became a manager in his own right at Portuguese club Uniao Lieira in 2001, he took Faria on as his fitness coach.

He has since followed Mourinho to each of his clubs, first taking on an assistant manager’s role when they returned to Chelsea for a second spell in 2013.

Mourinho added: “He is a big friend, more than an assistant. So if one day the moment arrives, I will be very happy.”

United’s manager, meanwhile, has declared that he has full trust in both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to play the main centre forward’s role as Romelu Lukaku recovers from an ankle injury.

The Belgium striker will miss Friday evening’s Premier League trip to Brighton with the problem, sustained during last weekend’s 2-1 win over Arsenal, and is racing against time to get fit for the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley on May 19.

England forward Rashford has made only two Premier League starts in 2018, while France international Martial has completed 90 minutes in a top-division match once since February 11.

Mourinho said: “They have had limited opportunities because Romelu has played all the games this season. He was playing well and was playing the way I wanted him to play and has had no injuries, no suspensions. But I do trust them, no problem.”