Louis van Gaal said goodbye to members of Manchester United's staff on Sunday without knowing if he was bidding farewell for the final time.
The BBC understands that Saturday's FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace was Van Gaal's last game as manager.
It is believed that by the time they arrived back in the north-west, neither the Dutchman nor his coaching staff had been told what was happening by United.
The club is set to appoint Jose Mourinho as manager later this week.
Before he left London, Van Gaal told some staff that he did not know if he would see them again, although the 64-year-old said later that he still "hoped" to be in charge for the final year of his three-year contract.
Van Gaal said "it's over" when a reporter approached him as he left the team hotel on Sunday.
However, the former Netherlands, Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is said to have been referring to his side's season rather than his own job.
Some members of Van Gaal's Old Trafford staff are believed to be unhappy at the lack of communication from the club's hierarchy.
United's executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, and Joel and Avie Glazer, part of the American family who own the Premier League club, were at Wembley on Saturday,
But they are not thought to have spoken to Van Gaal at a function following the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
As the reports about Van Gaal's impending departure spread, the function is said to have become a sombre affair.
Neither Van Gaal nor Woodward addressed staff collectively in the wake of the club's first triumph since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
In the past, Ferguson or former chief executive David Gill would have expressed their gratitude for the hard work involved in winning a major prize
BBC Sport revealed on Saturday that United are set to appoint Mourinho, who won three league titles in two spells at Chelsea,
The Portuguese is preparing to hold direct talks with senior United officials on Tuesday, with his agent, Jorge Mendes, due back in Europe from a business trip in Shanghai.
Mourinho, 53, was sacked by Chelsea in December, seven months after the club won the Premier League title, and has been out of work since.
He was at heavyweight boxer David Haye's win in London on Saturday but repeatedly declined to comment on whether he was about to succeed Van Gaal.
(BBC)
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