Ricardo Carvalho has backed Jose Mourinho to emulate the success of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United by winning silverware on a regular basis.

The Portuguese defender has played under his countryman at Porto, Real Madrid and in the Premier League with Chelsea for six years until departing in 2010.

With Mourinho now installed as United's new manager, taking over from Louis van Gaal who was shown the Old Trafford exit despite the recent FA Cup success, Carvalho has tipped the Special One to lift the top-flight crown within two years of arriving.

"Jose will have something to prove after what happened at Chelsea. He is a coach who always wants to improve and wants to do more and better," he told The Sun. "I think he will make Manchester United better and in the next two years they will be champions. United have struggled since [Sir Alex] Ferguson retired but Jose can be the one to replace him.

"He will not worry what went before. He will want to make his own success. Jose deserves to be at the biggest clubs because he is one of the top coaches. He has the quality to make United win again. He is a great coach and now he is in a great club - United are one of the biggest in the world.

"I have no doubt that he can bring trophies back to United again and that he will make them champions. I don't know if it will be in the first year, the second year or the third, but Mourinho will win the title again. My prediction is that it will be in the second year."

Carvalho, now plying his trade for Monaco in Ligue 1, played 90 minutes for Portugal as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of England on Thursday evening.