Manchester United: Jose Mourinho's award for Scott McTominay was a candlestick holder

Jose Mourinho's last-minute decision to invent his own award at Manchester United's glitzy end of season ceremony in 2018 saw Scott McTominay handed a candlestick holder to take home, it has bizarrely been revealed.

The evening saw goalkeeper David de Gea named as the recipient of the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year gong but, as the event drew to a close, United's then-manager stepped up to dish out another accolade.

His decision took some at the club by surprise, it has since surfaced, to the extent that the desperate rush to find a piece of silverware for McTominay resulted in him being handed a particular trinket instead.

TalkSPORT presenter Andy Goldstein, who worked with MUTV at the time, admitted it wasn't until halfway through the night that Mourinho's intentions became clear.

He said: 'When I was doing the Man United Player of the Year awards for MUTV, and he was manager, we were doing the live show in a studio next to the awards.

'You've got the bog-standard awards like the Matt Busby Award, Player of the Year, but we got wind of the fact on the night that Jose wanted to make up his own award and give an award out.

'I don't mean in the afternoon of the awards ceremony, I mean during the evening.

'The evening started at 8pm, and at about 9:30pm we got wind of the fact that Jose wanted to give out an award. Maybe it was earlier but it was halfway through the night.

'It was the Jose Mourinho Player of the Season Award, which Scott McTominay won.

'But with an award, you need a trophy.

'So they ended up giving Scott McTominay a candlestick holder. It was long, silver and had a little bend in it – that was all they could find.

'I don't know if Scott McTominay knows he won a candlestick holder.'

McTominay was a regular performer during Mourinho's tenure, and has remained similarly integral under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick.