Jose Mourinho reveals he had 'contract on the table' for England job

Jose Mourinho has spoke about turning down the England managerial job after negotiations had gone so far that they'd been put in writing by the FA

Posted Friday, February 16, 2024 by Dailystar.co.uk

Jose Mourinho has revealed he turned down a contract offer to become England manager.

'The Special One', 61, is now without a club after being sacked by Roma last month. With free time on his hands, he's been on Rio Ferdinand's Vibe With Five podcast to discuss his legendary career in the dugout and what's next for him.

In a preview of the interview, Mourinho opened up about once being in discussions with the FA to take over as Three Lions boss - with those talks going so far as to be put in writing before he turned it down.

"I refused great working opportunities," he said. "The first one was even very hard to refuse because it was Portugal. I could be their coach in the national team.

"Also yours," he then added, pointing towards former England defender Ferdinand, who exclaimed "no way" in shock and put his head in his hand. "Yeah. I had it there, on the table," Mourinho insisted.

Appearing to explain why he didn't accept, although it's unclear whether the clip is from a separate section of the podcast, he adds: "I didn't because... I gave everything.

"I gave my heart. I gave even options that could be considered not very clever by the professional point of view."

Mourinho is said to go into detail about his time at Manchester United in particular in the full interview, which is released later today (February 15).

It's previously been reported he was close to striking a deal to become England boss in 2007. He'd not long been dismissed by Chelsea, while Steve McClaren had been given the boot after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

“My wife told me not to take it and she was right,” Mourinho told The Guardian. “It was the right decision. I cannot wait two years for a big competition. I cannot be spending two years playing against Kazakhstan and San Marino."