Four senior players were ready to hand in transfer requests if the Portuguese boss was still in charge when the window opened in January.
SunSport have already exclusively revealed how Alexis Sanchez revelled in Mourinho's sacking by winning a £20,000 bet with team-mate Marcos Rojo.
And it is believed other stars were far from disappointed when they heard that the ex-Chelsea boss had been given the axe.
The Mirror claim that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was backed into a corner by United players who left him with no option but to swing to axe.
A host of big names had already refused to extend their contracts with Mourinho still at the helm.
Anthony Martial, David De Gea and Paul Pogba were just three names with contracts quickly running down.
But the club are now hoping a new lease of life inside the club will convince the players that their futures remain at Old Trafford.
The latest revelation is a sad indictment of the turmoil inside the club.
Mourinho had fallen out with a host of his players with speculation that he wasn't even on talking terms with Pogba.
Fred, a £52million summer signing, didn't even make the bench against Liverpool while a disagreement with Eric Bailly also became public.
New interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made the first step in raising morale among the squad.
The former striker delivered a rousing speech to players at the Christmas party in a bid to motivate the group ahead of the hectic festive fixture pile-up.
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