Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has reportedly received a money-spinning offer to leave Roma for Saudi Arabia after turning down a Premier League return with West Ham United.
Mourinho allegedly rejected West Ham’s offer of a three-year deal worth approximately £10 million a year in March. Hardly pocket change, of course. But small fry compared to the figures available to the preening Portuguese in the Middle East.
Corriere dello Sport believe that that one of the most iconic and successful managers in football history would take home a staggering £105 million if he was to sign a two-year deal at one of Saudi Arabia’s leading clubs.
That is five-times more than West Ham were reportedly offering.
Mourinho will not turn his back on a Roma side chasing Champions League qualification and dreaming of Europa glory. But, with his Stadio Olimpico contract expiring, some rather difficult decisions will need to be made regarding his future.
Former Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho rejects West Ham United
Mourinho, after spells at Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Tottenham, is not exactly short of a penny or two. Furthermore, a man with his insatiable drive and desire is unlikely to be too stirred by the prospect of taking on Al-Batin, Al-Fateh or Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League.
But, after 29 trophies over two decades, perhaps Mourinho feels that he has nothing left to prove in Europe.
And it remains to be seen what alternative offers the 60-year-old would receive when his Roma contract expires.
The common consensus is that Mourinho has been left behind somewhat by the game’s more modern thinkers. Especially at a time in which Europe’s elite clubs are opting for younger, more innovative tacticians. Erik ten Hag, Julian Nagelsmann and Xavi Hernandez, for instance.
One potential destination for Mourinho could be Al-Nassr. The team who snapped up Cristiano Ronaldo following the termination of his Manchester United contract.
Al-Nassr are currently second in the table behind Nuno Espirito Santo’s Al-Ittihad.
“Mourinho was special,” Inter Milan legend Marco Materazzi tells Italian Football TV. “He knew the names of all our children and our entire family. No one else has ever done that with me. It wasn’t a surprise for me, but for my wife it was, when he met her he said ‘ciao Daniela’.”
David Moyes, meanwhile, remains under huge pressure at West Ham. The Hammers were thumped 5-1 by Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United at the London Stadium this week.
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