Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho

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Teddy Cutler

By Teddy Cutler

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Jose Mourinho used his first official press conference as Manchester United manager to defend his record of bringing through youth players at each of the professional clubs he has managed.

Waving a piece of paper with 49 names on it, the Portuguese was clearly desirous of proving a point about one of the long-held criticisms against him: that he has to buy, rather than develop, talent.

Against Mourinho is the fact that many of those names are now languishing, having failed to make the grade either with him or elsewhere.

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Yet he has had some notable successes, bringing through players with long and fruitful careers. Newsweek looks at Mourinho's hits.

Hugo Almeida

Burly Portuguese striker was brought through the ranks during Mourinho's time at Porto, though he enjoyed the best spells of his career later and outside Portugal, at Werden Bremen and then Besiktas in Turkey.

Still playing, now back in Germany with Hannover 96. Almeida also gained 57 caps for the Portuguese national side, scoring 19 times.

Davide Santon

Classy full-back who came through the youth teams at Inter Milan and progressed into the first-team squad during Mourinho's successful period in charge of the Serie A club between 2008 and 2010.

Santon, now 25, enjoyed a mixed spell at Newcastle United between 2010 and 2015 and is now back at San Siro.

Alvaro Morata

Developed through the Real Madrid youth system and was prolific in the club's 'B' team for three years up until 2013, scoring 45 goals in 83 games.

In 2015, Morata said he would be "forever grateful" to Mourinho for handing him his chance in the Madrid first team.

Moved to Juventus in Serie A in 2014, and has been such a success that Madrid has now exercised its right to take him back to Spain.

Jese

Now a regular substitute at Real Madrid; given his first-team debut by Mourinho in a Copa Del Rey match in 2011, but was moved back to the reserve team in 2013 and complained after Mourinho's departure that he had not been given enough opportunities to prove himself under the Portuguese.

Joselu

The Stoke City striker grew up at Celta Vigo before moving to Real Madrid, where he spent three prolific years in the 'B' team. Given his first-team debut in La Liga by Mourinho in 2011; responded by scoring against Almeria.

Never really progressed at Madrid after that and moved to the Bundesliga in 2012, before a transfer to Stoke City from Hannover 96 in the summer of 2015.

"I spent two years with him. He took me on two pre-seasons and he gave me my Real Madrid debut in the league and the cup," Joselu said of Mourinho in 2015 on joining Stoke.

"I trained a huge amount with the first team and every time I had contact with him, he treated me extremely well, as he did with other academy products, who will tell you the same.

"I found that he was very friendly and encouraging towards the youngsters."

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