Mourinho: It was an easy decision

03 June 2013 18:17

Jose Mourinho revealed it took him "five minutes" of a meeting with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to agree a return to Stamford Bridge after six years away.

The Portuguese coach travelled to London on Monday to complete the formalities of a second stint in charge of the west London club after his exit from Real Madrid was confirmed, penning a four-year deal.

Mourinho maintains it was an "easy decision" to make to rejoin Chelsea, saying: "It was an easy decision. I met the boss, I met the owner and in five minutes after a couple of very short but pragmatic questions, we decided straight away."

He added: "I asked the boss 'do you want me back?' and the boss asked me 'do you want to come back?' and in a couple of minutes, the decision was made."

Mourinho was headhunted by the Blues after guiding Porto to Champions League glory in 2004, and would lead Chelsea to successive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, before then leaving after his relationship with owner Abramovich broke down and they parted company, officially by mutual consent at the time.

Since winning the European Cup again with Inter Milan and the Spanish title in his second season in Madrid, the 50-year-old has never made any secret of a love affair with the Chelsea faithful.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay insists moving to bring back the self-proclaimed 'Special One' was the only option as Chelsea looked to take the club on following the reign of interim manager Rafael Benitez, who had replaced Champions League-winning coach Roberto Di Matteo in November 2012, and after some initial difficulties guided the Blues to a third-place finish as well as winning the Europa League.

Mourinho feels with hindsight the parting of the ways back in September 2007, when he was replaced by Avram Grant, was perhaps what both needed at the time, as Chelsea have since also gone on to win the European Cup last season.

"It was a difficult moment because I love it here and have a big connection with the club. Also for the club, my departure it was not easy," he said. "But if you analyse it in a cool way and you leave emotions a bit apart, I think it was fantastic

"Because after that I had in my career what I was aiming for and Chelsea as a football club got important trophies after that, with important moments in the history of the club. Now we are back together and it is a great moment for both, so I think we are ready to marry again and to be happy and successful again."

Source: PA