Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has poured scorn on rumours suggesting he is one among of a series of managers involved in an illegal payments plot.

Following the removal of Sam Allardyce from the England post for his part in a bribery scandal uncovered in a recent sting operation, a rumour has been circulating that as many as eight Premier League managers have at some point in their careers accepted illegal payments from agents.

Mourinho, however, was vehement in his denial of the talk.

‘What I don’t like – to be honest I hate and don’t accept it – is the rumour,’ he told the Daily Star. ‘You cannot make fun with rumours and this is too serious to listen to rumours.

‘You cannot make fun with rumours and this is too serious to listen to rumours.

‘You find a person, you prove a person guilty, and, yes, the world has to know and you don’t have to hide anything. But the rumours are not good. The doubts are not good. That is the only thing I say.’

Turning the talk to his Manchester United side, Mourinho was insistent that the Red Devils had played their best match of the season their 1-1 draw against Stoke City this past weekend, despite dropping two points.

‘It could have been 3-0 or 4-0 at half time, and six or seven at the end of the game. I can’t believe the result is 1-1. It was very undeserved,’ Mourinho explained.

‘I repeat: it was a much better performance than against Leicester because the result made more than the performance and today was exactly the opposite.’

United are next in action when they face a daunting trip to Anfield on October 17.

Kick-off has been set for 21:00.