Media frenzy over team being leaked is a familiar story for those at United

'AMORIM UPS MOLE HUNT SEARCH' screamed the Daily Mail's splash yesterday afternoon.

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

That replaced another story on United's derby team news leak.

The fascination over United team i news emerging into the public domain increases with every year. A BBC journalist asked Ruben Amorim about it at his post-match press conference.

C է Desks are demanding follow-ups. E "Man Utd launch investigation into E player responsible for leaking team news with two stars questioned by a Ruben Amorim" was on the Sun's site at Monday lunchtime.

The BBC would never run a teamleak story. The Manchester Evening News technically didn't, either. This correspondent was responsible for the United XI entering the public domain, as United teams have done innumerable times in the past.

'Jose's mole hunt' was the backpage splash on the Mail in October 2018. That was a reference to the United team emerging the night before they played away at Chelsea.

A colleague and I had been furnished with the team.

Mourinho had already asked me at the FA Cup final pre-match press conference in May whether I knew the team. In November, he outright outed me - with a smile.

One turned a shade beetroot when Mourinho let the cat out of the bag at the Fenerbahce training ground last month: "He (me) had an incredible talent when I was at Man United. Every match, he knew the team." Jose exaggerated a tad.