By Akinwale Kasali
Less than two weeks after he was sacked by North London English Premier League Club Side, Tottenham Hotspurs, Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho, PhD, will return to the dugout. He has just been offered a mouth-watering appointment as the new coach of Rome based Italian Club side, AS Roma. For him, there is neither an idle, nor a dull moment.
The 58-Year old’s return to management with Roma was rapid.
He announced he will take over for the 2021-22 season, having signed a three-year deal that will run through to 2024. It also ushers in a return to Serie A for Mourinho, who won a treble with Inter Milan, which won the Italian Serie A title last weekend in a two-year spell at the San Siro from 2008 until 2010.
It was confirmed that the appointment of Mourinho came on the heel of the disastrous 6-2 loss to Manchester United Football Club in last week’s UEFA Europa League Semi Final. The weekend’s 2-0 loss to Sampdoria, nailed the coffin for the exit of Paulo Fonseca.
Mourinho, being available and ready to start was also appealing to Roma, with the Friedkin family who own the club looking to appoint the best free coach to replace Paolo Fonseca and avoid paying out millions in compensation.
Roma announced earlier on Tuesday that Fonseca will be leaving at the end of the season.
They had initially made a move for Maurizio Sarri, the former Chelsea, Juventus and Napoli boss, but ditched him in favour of Mourinho.
The Portuguese boss wasted no time in sorting out an appropriate phone case for his next step in management.
Mourinho posted a picture of a case in Roma’s colours with the initials ‘JM’ on his Instagram page on Tuesday afternoon, alongside the caption: ‘My new phone cover.’
Mourinho’s Roma appointment will benefit Tottenham’s books, as well. If Mourinho had remained unemployed, he would have been due £16m with the remaining 18 months of his Spurs contract to be paid out.
Now, he will get around eight weeks’ worth as it intertwines with him heading to Roma Spurs in the region of £1.5m instead.
Mourinho said: “Thank you to the Friedkin family (Roma’s owners) for choosing me to lead this great club and to be part of their vision.
”After meetings with the ownership and Tiago Pinto (Roma’s general manager), I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. It is the same ambition and drive that has always motivated me and together we want to build a winning project over the upcoming years.
”The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season.
”In the meantime, I wish Paulo Fonseca all the best and I hope the media appreciate that I will only speak further in due course. Daje Roma!
In the meantime, Mourinho will be working for radio station talkSPORT across the summer with their coverage of Euro 2020.
Roma sits seventh in the Serie A standings and were thrashed 6-2 by United in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at Old Trafford last week. The return leg in Italy is on Thursday.
Club President Dan Friedkin and Vice President, Ryan Friedkin, said: ‘We are thrilled and delighted to welcome Jose Mourinho into the AS Roma family.
”A great champion who has won trophies at every level, Jose will provide tremendous leadership and experience to our ambitious project.
”The appointment of Jose is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.’
General manager Pinto revealed that Roma weighed up a move for Mourinho as soon as news emerged that Tottenham had sacked him.
”When Jose became available, we immediately jumped at the chance to speak with one of the greatest managers of all time,’ Pinto said.
”We were blown away by Jose’s desire to win and his passion for the game: no matter how many trophies he has won, his primary focus is always on the next one. He possesses the knowledge, experience and leadership to compete at all levels.”
