Jose Mourinho’s comments about Celtic in March now look very interesting

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Celtic are reportedly pursuing boss Jose Mourinho.

Celtic clinched the league title on Saturday afternoon, with interim boss Neil Lennon giving himself another boost in his pursuit of landing the job permanently.

Yet just 24 hours later, a new candidate entered the frame. Bizarrely, links to Jose Mourinho emerged from surprisingly respectable sources.

Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio was first to report that Celtic had offered the job to Mourinho, and he’s one of the most well-connected insiders in football.

The Daily Mail later claimed that Celtic have indeed made an offer to Mourinho, and he’s weighing up his options amid interest from Roma and Lyon too.

It seems that Celtic have a very genuine interest in the Portuguese boss, who has been out of management since losing his job at Manchester United back in December.

‘The Special One’ isn’t quite what he once was, with many feeling that the game has passed him by, but he would still be stunning coup for Celtic. Even Neil Lennon would surely understand if Celtic went for Mourinho over him.

Mourinho did make comments to beIN Sport about Celtic in March after seeing Brendan Rodgers quit for Leicester, and he talked up the Bhoys as a ‘giant club’, which is very interesting now as Celtic pursue him.

Mourinho did though note that Scottish football is behind the Premier League, so he can understand why Rodgers made the move, meaning rival bids may still be appealing to Mourinho despite his admiration for Celtic. There appears to be a slim chance of a deal being done given Mourinho’s comments, but it’s a chance all the same.

“If you tell me, am I surprised by Brendan leaving Celtic to go to Leicester, I would say no,” said Mourinho. “The Scottish championship, with all due respect, is not the same as the Premier League. Celtic is a giant club but the Premier League is the Premier League. I’m not surprised that he comes there. If I was in his position I would say to Leicester, ‘I want to come to you, but not now’. I want to come next season, I want to be champion in Scotland, I want to leave in the right moment. In my opinion, the right moment would be pre-season,” he added.