Where will Jose Mourinho manage next? Everything you need to know…
Jose Mourinho is currently in charge of Fenerbahce and his contract with the Turkish Super Lig outfit runs for one more season, but that hasn’t stopped him teasing his next challenge in football.
The 62-year-old has Fenerbahce second in the Super Lig table, but he’s cut an often disgruntled figure as his debut season at the helm looks set to end trophyless. And you can’t help but get the feeling he’s already thinking about his next move.
We’ve rounded up everything Mourinho has said about his next job.
A return to England
“I think the best thing I have to do is when I leave Fenerbahce I go to a club that doesn’t play UEFA competitions,” Mourinho told reporters after being sent off in Fenerbahce’s Europa League draw with Manchester United back in October.
“If any club in England from the bottom of the table needs a coach in two years, I’m ready to go.
“I don’t want to say anything more about it. I want to speak about the game. We played absolutely fantastic against the team, in theory, from a superior level. We played fantastic.”
He doesn’t sound especially keen on extending his stay in Turkey beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of next season. But it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see him leave Fenerbahce and become available sooner.
Mourinho hasn’t mentioned any clubs specifically, but Leeds United were recently linked amid speculation over Daniel Farke’s future.
Leeds have since publicly backed Farke to lead them in the Premier League, but you wouldn’t be shocked if the job comes up in the early months of next season.
Rangers
Back in March, Mourinho was asked directly about reports linking him to Rangers once their takeover goes through in the summer.
“In this moment, no, because I have a job that motivates me and a job that demands loyalty. But why not in the future?” he told reporters.
“People can say that the Scottish league is a league of two teams, but it’s a league of passion. It’s a league of passion. And for me, passion in football is everything.
“For me, to play in empty stadiums, to play in competitions where there is not that fire of the passion doesn’t make any sense.
“And Celtic and Rangers, they are big clubs with big fan bases, with big emotions, big responsibilities, big expectations. Why not?”
Mourinho managing in an Old Firm derby? Bring it on.
Newcastle United
“On Newcastle, I don’t have anything to say. Absolutely nothing to say,” responded Mourinho in a press conference following the club’s takeover in October 2021.
“The only thing I can say is that for many, many years, I worked with one of the most important figures in the history of Newcastle, Sir Bobby Robson, and so because of that I have always had a bit of an emotional connection with that city and that fanbase. But it’s nothing more than that.”
As with Manchester United back when Ferguson was in charge, that comment read an awful lot like Jose planting the seeds for a future opportunity.
Eddie Howe appears safe at St. James’ Park after the League Cup heroics, but expect Mourinho’s name to be linked when the job next becomes available.
Portugal
“The fact that the president of the FPF [Portuguese FA] said that I was not his first choice, but his only choice, makes me proud,” Mourinho told the press in January 2023.
“But I decided not to go. I’m here [Roma] and that’s what matters.”
Roberto Martinez got the job and has a contract with Portugal until next summer’s World Cup. But Mourinho might well take over for the next cycle.
“I think I was emotional when I didn’t accept and decided to stay at Roma. I think I made a mistake,” he said in an interview with South Korea EA Sports. “Portugal wanted me twice and I think they will want me a third time, one day. And then I will accept it.”
He’ll be 67 come the 2030 World Cup – partly held in his native Portugal – and that just sounds perfect, doesn’t it?
Brazil
“I don’t know if it’s true that Brazil wants me,” Mourinho told reporters in January 2024.
“They haven’t spoken to me. I asked my agent not to tell me anything about any contacts.”
Carlo Ancelotti looks set to become the Selecao’s first-ever foreign manager when he departs his post as Real Madrid manager, although suggestions of a lucrative offer from a Saudi Pro League club may throw a spanner in the works for that plan.
Might Mourinho re-enter the race if Don Carlo declines? One to watch out for.
Chelsea
“If you ask me do I have somebody that I would love to take over from ‘my Chelsea’ let’s say that, yes, but I have but I close my mouth,” Mourinho told Sky Sports when asked about his thoughts on the pressure Graham Potter was facing back in 2023.
“The club reached such a level that it doesn’t matter who it’s with but Chelsea will always be Chelsea,
“Chelsea will always be big and my house will always be 200 metres away from the stadium so I want to keep listening to the sound of happiness and success. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be like that.”
Enzo Maresca has got the Blues back on track in recent weeks, but the Italian hasn’t been an especially popular figure with the fans. If there was ever an appointment to appease the match-going faithful…
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