Roma have confirmed that Jose Mourinho will become their new manager at the start of next season.
The news comes just hours after the Serie A side confirmed that Paulo Fonseca would be departing at the end of the current campaign.
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— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) May 4, 2021
The club are delighted to announce an agreement has been reached with Jose Mourinho for him to become our new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.
#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/f5YGGIVFJp
Mourinho has not been out of work for long, only being sacked by Tottenham last month. Since then he was signed up for some media work ahead of this summer's European Championships and news of his imminent arrival in the Italian capital has taken the football world by surprise.
"After meetings with the ownership, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season. Daje Roma!" Mourinho said.
He has a good reputation in Italy thanks to a successful spell at Inter in the late 2000s and early 2010s. During his time at the San Siro he clinched a famous treble during the 2009/10 season, which included a superb Champions League final win over Bayern Munich.
José Mourinho confirms: “After meetings with the ownership, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season. Daje Roma!”. ?? #Mourinho
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 4, 2021
Since then though, his star has waned considerably. His two most recent jobs in charge of Manchester United and Tottenham were not particularly successful, with reports of him alienating players with his negative tactics.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Chris Smalling were among those who had problems under Mourinho at Old Trafford but they are now set to link back up with their former manager in Rome.
As reported by Sport Witness the club's General Manager Tiago Pinto was "blown away by Jose’s desire to win and his passion for the game" and they are "supremely confident he will be the perfect coach for our project, for both our immediate and long-term future."
Source: 90min
