What next for Mourinho?

22 January 2013 08:39

With talk of the Jose Mourinho’s future at Real Madrid continuing in the media, the Portuguese looks increasingly likely to leave the Bernabeu in the summer.

A recent poll of around 700 supporters found that just under half (42%) would prefer him to leave the club in the summer, with Rafa Benitez topping the poll of ideal replacements. Germany manager Joachim Loew and Swansea boss Michael Laudrup came second and third respectively.

62% of the fans surveyed felt Mourinho is damaging the image of the club through his actions and comments.

Since he took over in the summer of 2010, Mourinho has regularly spoken of his desire to manage in England once again, despite signing a new four-year contract after winning La Liga in 2012.

"In England you feel the real passion for the game. It's not just about passion for clubs, it's mainly about passion for football.” He said recently, in a video link tribute at the FA’s 150th anniversary celebrations last week.

“My memories are great. I loved it from the first day to the last. I don't regret my last day because after that I was lucky enough to enjoy Italy and to have some success there and also in Spain. But I know that one day I will come back because English football means a lot to my self."

Managing in England is inevitable, but what is Mourinho’s next project?

With long-term Chelsea target Pep Guardiola’s future decided in Germany, the Stamford Bridge club will be on the lookout for a new manager once again when the short-term contract of Rafa Benitez runs out in the summer. Will Roman Abramovich re-unite with the man that brought success to Stamford Bridge?

With reports last week suggesting Abramovich was prepared to offer Guardiola £18million a year, surely it would be an equally as good move to try bring back a man who has won domestic titles in four different European leagues?

“The Special One” has history of managing big players and big squads and the temptation of returning to a club where he won every English domestic trophy in a three year stint could be enough to lure him back to the English capital.

The French league is a league Mourinho has yet to conquer, but Paris St Germain could give the Portuguese manager an offer he can’t refuse.

Qatari owners have injected a new lease of life into the French capital’s only Professional football team. (FC Red Star Saint-Ouen currently play in the third tier of French football.)

Although Carlo Ancelotti’s side are currently locked at the top of the table with Lyon, the owners are reportedly interested in bringing in Arsene Wenger or Mourinho.

The prospect of a new project, in a new country, money to spend and quality players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi, the Parc Des Princes hot seat may appeal to him.

Like PSG, money-bags Man City may be looking for a new manager if their Middle-Eastern owners lose patience with Roberto Mancini. The lure of going to a team already full of quality may tempt Mourinho to move to Manchester. Although rumours state he could be waiting for the job at the red side of Manchester, waiting to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.

Or maybe he is interested in going to a country he is yet to conquer, such as Germany, to come up against old counterpart Pep Guardiola? Maybe so, although unlikely.

Mourinho shared a special relationship with the English media, one he has never come close to with the Spanish press. He revels in the spotlight of English football and as a football fan, it would be great to have him back in the Premier League.

Mourinho’s managerial touch is yet to grace the international stage and this is only a matter of ‘when?’ after he admitted his wish to one day manage Portugal. This would probably be something he delves into in the latter stages of his career, once he has once again made his mark in English football.

Source: DSG