Those close to Jose Mourinho say he is naturally delighted at being named Manchester United manager, with the slightest sense of relief, too.
His appointment does not just complete a story that has been going on for months. It completes a goal he has had for pretty much all of his career.
Mourinho is so often compared to Brian Clough for both his personality and his managerial style, but one grand difference is that the Portuguese finally gets a job he has long wanted. This is the modern day version of Clough's public quest to get the England job through the 1970s and 1980s, albeit with an alternative outcome.
Even when circumstances seemed to perfectly align for Clough, the role eluded him. That is not the case for Mourinho. He has the job but it didn't always seem that would be the case.
Having been overlooked for the Old Trafford role when Sir Alex Ferguson retired in the summer of 2013, Mourinho was genuinely intent on building a Ferguson-style legacy at Chelsea. He felt it would finally happen for him and that the situation was set up for it, even if there were some misgivings about the club's structure.
By the time things started to unravel at Stamford Bridge last October, his representatives began to investigate other options as a contingency plan. Sources say that contact was made with Paris Saint-Germain and his former club Inter Milan, with whom he won the treble with in 2010.
Behind it all, though, was the deep desire to manage Manchester United. That was the big one. Old Trafford was the stadium where he made his name when he knocked United out of the Champions League round of 16 with Porto in 2004. It was still the ground where he felt a real sense of specialness just looking at the stands, and they were still the club that he would still so graciously talk about in news conferences. At the end of October, in what was another otherwise fractious news conference at Cobham, Mourinho again described United as "a super big club, a monster club."
The problem at that point, beyond the Portuguese's struggles at Chelsea, was that Louis van Gaal had started the season well and United had justified optimism about putting in a title challenge. But that drastically changed. By the time Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea on Dec.18, United were in the middle of a six-game winless run in the league. Van Gaal's position came under serious threat -- with the Dutch coach even considering the prospect of resignation -- and sources say word got back to Mourinho's camp that the role could very soon be available. Within 48 hours of Mourinho's sacking, his agent Jorge Mendes made contact with United.
Club sources say the preference of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was to keep Van Gaal until at least the end of the season, but he knew he had to explore the Mourinho option, especially with the side's ongoing struggles and the unsettling fact that Manchester City had secured the appointment of Pep Guardiola.
Contact intensified and by the middle of January, those close to Mourinho were extremely confident he would be United manager by the summer. The Portuguese was willing and ready to take the job any time but in the meantime, he busied himself with preparation.
Mourinho had put together a dossier, forensically assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the United squad, and where he felt needed to be strengthened. He was willing to take on Zlatan Ibrahimovic but also felt he would need two defenders, a commanding central midfielder, a fast winger to facilitate rapid counterattacks and a hard-working striker. Mourinho was gushing in his praise of Harry Kane to those close to him, and still wants United to at least try and buy him, even though all indications are that the striker wants to stay at Tottenham. Mourinho is also excited by Marcus Rashford's performances and feels the 18-year-old could be a valuable option.
One growing issue, though, was that Mourinho almost had too much time to think. Those around him began to grow impatient that any deal had not been officially signed, something made all the more frustrating by City and Chelsea both confirming their next bosses.
Many at United say, however, that situation was partly down to the fact Woodward was not 100 percent sure what he was going to do. Some felt he was playing all sides off each other, keeping the Mourinho option open in case of Van Gaal's failure, but also prepared to give the Dutch coach the chance to take the club back into the Champions League.
Others felt there was a simpler, more financially-based explanation. Contractually, it was easier and cheaper to get rid of Van Gaal if he failed to finish in the top four, so they waited until that might be the case, as with David Moyes in 2014.
It is not a coincidence the deal has been sealed in the days after it was confirmed United would finish in fifth place, as Mourinho's representatives met Woodward for a second time in the space of a week.
Mourinho has been granted final say on transfers. That is something rare in his career, especially in his past two jobs, at Chelsea and Real Madrid. It means he doesn't just have the job he always craved. He has the managerial circumstances he always wanted -- a big club with plenty of money, giving him plenty of say.
The wonder is whether all of this aligning will build up to Mourinho's greatest moment. Or, was the last year of the Chelsea job a sign he is past his best; that this opportunity comes too late for him?
Despite the misgivings of some United players, sources claim the majority of the squad don't have overly positive or negative feelings toward his appointment. Rather, they're intrigued to see what he's like, what it will mean for them as individuals and who he'll want to keep around. They're eager to see what will happen. So is everyone else.
Mourinho, meanwhile, is eager to finally start working the job he has coveted for so long.