Jose Mourinho is a "fantastic commodity" who can boost a club's finances, says image rights expert Jon Elphick.
Mourinho is expected to be confirmed within 48 hours as United's third manager since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure but the appointment is being delayed by a number of issues.
Chelsea's ownership of the rights to Mourinho's name and image is reportedly to be one of the stumbling blocks which has made the deal more complicated.
Image rights expert Elphick explained to Sky Sports News how 'brand Mourinho' can earn the club additional revenue in a number of different ways.
"Image rights provide a great opportunity for both the clubs and the individuals to earn a second income stream," Elphick told SSN HQ.
Sir Alex Ferguson retired from management in 2013 after winning his 13th Premier League title in his final season
"The value of someone like Jose Mourinho to endorse products on behalf of Manchester United or Chelsea gives the club a huge opportunity to break into different territories, to secure valuable income outside of gate receipts and that sort of thing.
"Someone like Jose Mourinho is a fantastic commodity for different independent companies to earn money from."
However, Elphick says there are a number of solutions to resolve the issue which crops up more often with players.
"Essentially it is a legal dispute," added Elphick.
"Jose Mourinho would have signed his rights away to Chelsea when he joined them. That gives them a number of options, either he can negotiate with Chelsea to buy back his rights to assign the rights to Manchester United or they can acquire the rights through a sub-licensing agreement.
"Players essentially do a very similar thing. When they join a club they will sign an agreement with the club that allows the club to use their image towards their commercial partners. It is very unusual for a manager to do it but Jose Mourinho is an unusual manager - he is a high profile individual in his own right.
"You can understand why Manchester United would want him to be the face of the products of their commercial partners."
