Once the toast of the managerial world, Jose Mourinho today is more of a meme than a major coach. The now ex-Spurs coach lasted just 17 months in an ill-fitting coaching gig at Tottenham. Seen as too abrasive for a squad of non-winners, and too incompatible in football views for Spurs’s attack-minded team, Mourinho was never likely to last for the long-term. However, such a swift exit was seen as unlikely, especially with Spurs playing in the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday.
Still, in a wave of horrific publicity, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy swung the hammer and emptied Mourinho around half-way through his first full season at Spurs. It was seen as a dangerous move to hire him in the first place, and now looks to have been a poor decision by all involved at Spurs. For Mourinho, though, he made clear that this would be a short exit from the game before a return for the 2021-22 season.
Where, though? Who would hire a coach who has more or less burnt his bridges at every top club?
Talk of a move to Scotland with Celtic has already been mentioned, though even the most pessimistic view of Mourinho’s career would make that unlikely. Despite likely being finished in the Premier League outside of a smaller club, Mourinho is likely to wind up arriving in France or back in Italy.
Where will Jose Mourinho arrive?
An interesting fit might come at Olympique Lyonnais. The club have made strides recently to move away from their old model, and the future of coach Rudi Garcia is seen as unlikely to continue past the summer. Despite having OL in a title race, his tenure started badly and his stoic football is seen as imcompatible in the long-term with Lyon. Why, then, might Mourinho be a better fit? After all, the Portugeuse has never been known for his flashy football.
The secret comes from his personality, which might be just what Lyon need to return themselves toward the top of the European game. At around the time Mourinho was at his peak, Lyon were a genuine force and a regular domestic champion. Since the 2010s, though, Lyon have endured a drop in status and in ability to compete, namely thanks to the financial power of Paris Saint-Germain.
Mourinho, then, would offer a big-name hire who would be arriving in a league without many major coaching names to talk about. His arrival would also likely offer a Champions League return, and the chance to work with a chairman who has long enjoyed his style and would likely back him with the kind of financial backing he might not get at other clubs.
For Mourinho, then, the likely opportunity is going to come either from a club like Lyon or from a sporting project outside of Europe. Links to China and America exist, too, but it appears that Mourinho is not quite yet ready to cash in and head outside of the competitive European landscape – at least, not yet.
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