Jose Mourinho: I turned down PSG twice

Jose Mourinho: I turned down PSG twice

In depth: Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed he twice turned down the chance to manage Paris Saint-Germain.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 tie against the French club, Mourinho revealed that he was first approached in 2011 and then again two years later, with the former Porto and Inter boss travelling to Qatar to discuss a potential move.

[Billionaires' playthings: How Chelsea beat FFP, and how PSG were too late to the party]

Preview: PSG v Chelsea - Eurosport

 

The Qatari-owned Paris outfit are working on a project that will see them dominate European football, should things go to plan, and the club’s owners earmarked Mourinho as the man to lead them in their quest for glory, whilst Leonardo was also involved in discussions.

MOURINHO'S QUOTES

“I know the PSG project well, I know it well because when they start this project with the owner, the president and Leonardo, I was to be the coach,” said Mourinho.

“I met them in Qatar, so I know the project well. The project was to start dominating in France, to dominate in Europe. The domination in France is there, they are champions, champions, champions.

“They are in the League Cup final, they are in the quarter-finals of the French Cup, they are two points behind the leaders so the domination of France is there.

[FULL MATCH PREVIEW: PSG vs Chelsea preview: French champions ravaged by injury]

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (PA Sport) - PA Sport

“They want to dominate in Europe too and, to be fair, you look to Paris in the last two seasons in the Champions League and they lost in the quarter-finals, once narrowly to Barcelona and last season against Chelsea in the last second.

“So they know and they feel they are there. They are there. Paris is a big team with big ambitions.”

The Portuguese claimed that he was tempted by the offer in the French capital, but opted to continue in his role as coach of Real Madrid as he felt he had not achieved all that he could.

“Because I was in Real Madrid and it was a real ambition for me to be champion in Spain, England and Italy,” he added.

“It was a big challenge for me and a big challenge to compete directly against the best, Barcelona, probably the best team in Europe for the last decade for sure. It was not the right moment for me to go."

OUR VIEW - MORE MOURINHO MIND GAMES

We're not big fans of trumpeting the psychological genius of Jose Mourinho every time he answers a question in a press conference. Yet with this interestingly-timed admission, one which came completely unbidden, he has undoubtedly pulled off a bit of a stroke.

Hailing PSG's strength and success in France will boost the opposing players' image of themselves. But in the same breath he made it clear that he turned them down; that, along with stating that his professional ambitions were always focused on the Spanish, English and Italian leagues, casts the whole of French football in a deeply unflattering light. The fact that he praised them for reaching the last eight of the Coupe de France actually takes it into the realms of comedy - a more damning indictment with fainter praise would be hard to imagine.