Jose Mourinho has claimed that it is not his "fault" that Ryan Giggs has ended his 29-year association with Manchester United.
The club announced on Saturday that the Welshman, who won a record 13 league titles during his playing career at Old Trafford, has left the club.
Giggs spent two years as Louis van Gaal's assistant manager, and also held the role during David Moyes's 10-month spell in charge following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
In his first press conference as United boss, Mourinho told reporters that he did not push Giggs out of the door, but rather that the 42-year-old decided to leave because he wanted the manager's job.
"It is not my responsibility that Ryan is not in the club," Mourinho told reporters. "The job Ryan wanted is the job that the club decided to give me. It's not my fault. Ryan wanted to be Manchester United manager, and the board decided to hire me. Ryan wants to be a manager.
"For many of us, we start as assistant coaches, and we arrive at a moment when we make a decision, and Ryan made a decision. He could be whatever he wanted at the club but he made a decision. A decision where you need to be brave. I was not happy myself at Barcelona in 2000. Do you think it was easy for me to leave such a big club and go to a new fight? It was not easy.
"For Ryan, it is not just the step from assistant manager to manager - he also left his house. He was brave, he was honest. Good luck. If one day he wants to come back to the club while I am here, I will take him back. If one day the club offers him the chance to be manager, I think it will be something natural and a consequence of his managerial career."
Giggs also won two European Cups and four FA Cups in his playing career before retiring in 2014.
Danielle Joynson
