Jose Mourinho has admitted that he thrives on the pressure of managing the world's best sides, and wants to end his first campaign as Manchester United boss as a title winner.

The Portuguese is tasked with guiding the Red Devils back to the summit of the Premier League after three seasons of disappointment under David Moyes and more recently Louis van Gaal.

Mourinho has won major trophies against the odds in the past, most famously when guiding Porto to the Champions League in 2004, believing that aiming high is the best way of tasting success.

"I like to create that expectation and I like the players to feel it," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "Sometimes, during my career, I created some unrealistic targets. By doing that, you push the team to unexpected levels - to win the Champions League with Porto and Inter is unexpected.

"Those were very risky objectives and targets. To win championships in the first season is a bit of the same, but I like that. People analyse it as arrogance and so on but that's not a problem for me.

"The reality is that I always feel that targets like this can only help players, managers, clubs and this kind of establishment."

Mourinho, who won the English top flight in his first season as Chelsea manager, takes over a United side reeling from fifth, fourth and seventh-place finishes over the past three years.