Tottenham vs Olympiakos Piraeus - No chance of Tottenham signing Zlatan – Mourinho



Posted Tuesday, November 26, 2019 by PA

Tottenham vs Olympiakos Piraeus - No chance of Tottenham signing Zlatan – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has said there is “no chance” of Tottenham signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The 38-year-old, currently a free agent following his exit from LA Galaxy in the last few weeks, has been linked with a move to Spurs given his strong connection with Mourinho.

Mourinho has worked with Ibrahimovic at Inter Milan and Manchester United, but will not be bringing him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Portuguese says it does not make sense when he has Harry Kane at his disposal.

“You are right about the connection, we have more than a connection,” Mourinho said when asked whether he would be trying to sign the Swede.

“I would say also passion and understanding, an amazing player and an amazing guy, but I would say no. No chance.

“We have the best striker in England, we have one of the top two or three strikers in the world, it doesn’t make any sense for a striker of Zlatan’s dimension, obviously in his late 30s, but still a striker that can play in any club in the world.

“It doesn’t make sense to come to a club where we have Harry Kane.”

It has been a hectic first week for Mourinho at the Spurs helm following his appointment last week.

After his unveiling to the media on Thursday, he had his first game 48 hours later at West Ham – which Spurs won 3-2 – and is now preparing for a Champions League clash with Olympiacos on Tuesday.

Part of Mourinho’s remit at Spurs is to do one thing that Mauricio Pochettino could not do – win silverware.

He returns to the Champions League, a competition he has won twice, against the Greek side on Tuesday, where a point will see Tottenham reach the knockout stages.

Even with Mourinho at the helm, the Premier League club will not be among the favourites to lift the trophy in June.

Still, the Portuguese is not scared of what might be waiting for them in the next round.

“I love the competition as much as everyone in football,” he said. “It’s something that everybody dreams about, to win it. Not everyone has the privilege to be a Champions League winner which I was happy enough to do twice.

“Do I want to win it a third time? Of course, I would love it but I know the difficulties of it.

“But with these boys, I will never be afraid of any Champions League match that comes into our faces.

“I repeat, we need to qualify, that is the focus. I always say that.

“We have to qualify, but, as I was saying, give me time to work, give me time to float my ideas with these boys and I will have no problem at all going to any stadium at all to face any big opponent in Europe or in England.

“We are not going to be afraid of anybody.”

Olympiacos head coach Pedro Martins insists his side are not scared of Mourinho and is not bothered about who is in the opposition dugout.

Martins had praised Mourinho for being a trailblazer for Portuguese coaches earlier in the week, but he put on a more defiant show on the eve of the game.

“We are here to represent Olympiacos, we are well aware that Tottenham are a very strong team, we know how tough it will be,” he said.

“But it is Olympiacos versus Tottenham. Mourinho is an excellent manager, we respect him, but we are not afraid of him.”

Mourinho has had a whirlwind time since taking the job and is preparing for his second game in three days.

And Martins is hoping he can catch Mourinho cold.

“We know Jose Mourinho, but it is the first time we play against him as a Tottenham manager,” he added.

“We don’t know how he is going to set up his team, but at the same time he doesn’t know how we are going to set up.

“Tomorrow is a very important game and after we are expecting a reaction of the players.

“We worked hard to get to the group stage of the Champions League and we will do our best.

“We are here against a very big team but we have ambitions and we expect to act in a positive way.”



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