Jose Mourinho has given the clearest indication yet that his managerial future will remain in England after the Portuguese manager gave his first interview since being sacked by Chelsea in December and claimed he will be back in football management sooner rather than later.
Mourinho has been continuously linked with Manchester United, where current manager Louis van Gaal remains under pressure, since he was let go at Stamford Bridge.
It has been reported that United officials have been in touch with Mourinho to discuss the prospect of taking over from Van Gaal at the end of the season, and while the former Real Madrid coach did not mention United specifically, he did indicate he would look to work in the Premier League again.
Mourinho was spotted at a Bundesliga game between Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, prompting suggestions he might be eyeing a job in the Bundesliga, but his latest interview would indicate he hopes to remain in England.
“To be fully happy I need everything, so I go back to football. I think it’s my natural habitat. I have worked since I can remember, and as a manager since 2000. For sure, I will be back soon,” he told GQ.
“At this moment I don’t have a job, and I don’t know where football will take me, because in football you never know. But for sure for sure for sure, as a family, our home will still be England.”
Reflecting on his most recent stint at Chelsea, which ended just six months after being crowned Premier League champions at the end of the 2014-15 season, Mourinho suggested complacency was the reason for the club’s horror start to the campaign.
Chelsea had lost six games before the end of October in a torrid run of form that ultimately cost Mourinho – the club’s most successful manager – his job.
“If you don’t react, if you believe that just because you won in one year that you are going to win again, it’s very difficult,” he said.
His former club Chelsea takes on United on Sunday.
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