Mourinho arrived at the Court of First Instance and Instruction No.4 in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, at around 9:30 a.m. local time on Friday to answer charges of a €3.3 million tax fraud, which he has always denied.

After a brief hearing, he told media upon leaving the court: "I was told that my tax situation was completely legal.

"A few years later I was told that there was an investigation opened and they told me that to regularise my situation I had to pay sum X.

"I did not answer, I did not argue, I have paid and signed with the state that I am definitely in compliance and the case is closed. That is why I am here, nothing else."

Prosecutors at Spain's Hacienda tax authority had accused Mourinho of using companies in Ireland, New Zealand and the British Virgin Islands to hide image rights income received when he was Real Madrid manager in 2011 and 2012.

Mourinho said in a statement earlier this year that he had paid €26m in taxes during his three years living in Spain as Madrid coach and had previously "entered into a settlement agreement regarding 2013."

On Friday, he appeared at the same building where Cristiano Ronaldo testified in his tax fraud hearing on July 31, and where the Portuguese pair's agent, Jorge Mendes, spoke in front of the judge hearing a similar case involving current Monaco striker Radamel Falcao on June 27.

The court date affected United's preparations for the game at Mourinho's former club Chelsea on Sunday, with the prematch news conference brought forward from Friday to Thursday so that he could attend.

However, asked if it was a "distraction" for himself or his team ahead of the crunch clash at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho said: "No. It's just a change of normal training time because I want to be there and I can't be there in the morning so I have to change the timings."

Ronaldo, meanwhile, continues to fight his charges and could be called back to court to give further evidence in the coming months. Accused of a €14.7m fraud, Ronaldo did not accept the investigator's understanding of his affairs and during a 90-minute hearing in July he told the judge he had done nothing wrong and was only being targeted due to his fame.

Other clients at Mendes' Gestifute agency including Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho and Angel Di Maria have also had image rights issues with the Spanish tax authorities. Di Maria and Carvalho are reported to have settled their cases, while those of Falcao and Coentrao are still being contested.