David Beckham has backed Jose Mourinho's appointment as Manchester United manager as "a great move".

The former Chelsea boss took over at Old Trafford this summer following the sacking of Louis van Gaal, who could only guide United to a fifth-place finish last season.

Beckham, who spent 10 years at United under Sir Alex Ferguson, expects Mourinho to bring some stability to the club following a tumultuous few seasons in the wake of Ferguson's departure.

"I fully expect it to work," Beckham told Sky Sports News. "With Jose leaving Chelsea and now coming back into the Premier League with United, for me it is a great move.

"I had huge respect for Van Gaal, but it did not work out the way people expected it to. But I think at the end of the day, now it is a new start for United. We have had a couple [of managers] over the last three or four years, which is not the Manchester United style, who are used to a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson being in there for so many years.

"Now with Jose in there, he knows what he wants and how to get it, he knows how to win titles. I think that is what Man United definitely need to get back to and they need to get back to being feared again. Because we were always a club - and are still a club - that when teams come to Old Trafford, they know they are going to be up against it and they know they are probably going to lose. So that is what we need to get back to."

Mourinho begins his first Premier League campaign as United boss with a trip to Bournemouth on August 14.