Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that London rivals Tottenham Hotspur wanted him as their manager.
Speaking ahead of the Capital One Cup Final between the two clubs, Mourinhio spoke of how Spurs wanted him at White Hart Lane.
A clause in his Chelsea contract meant he would not have been able to join Spurs for two years after he left Stamford Bridge in 2007.
I couldn’t go,” he said. “I could not train in England for two years.”
Asked if he would have considered Spurs, Mourinho added: “No, because I love Chelsea supporters too much.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy wanted Mourinho to replace Martin Jol in 2007, before Jol was eventually sacked in October of that year.
But instead, Levy chose Juande Ramos as Jol’s successor, while Jose went to Inter Milan in 2008.
After leaving Real Madrid in 2012, Mourinho was again linked with White Hart Lane, but instead they plumped for his former assistant, Andre Villas-Boas, ironically sacked by Chelsea just a few months before.
Mourinho, who is in the second year of a four-year deal, said he wants to stay in English football for the remainder of his career.
“I don’t want to go away,” he said “I will stay here in this chair until owner Mr Abramovich tells me ‘Jose, it’s enough’.
“If one day he tells me ‘Jose it’s enough’ I will go to my house in London and I wait for another English club.
“When I left the first time I had lots of countries to go to and lots of clubs to go to. In this moment when I leave I have another 19 clubs in the Premier League and the clubs in the Championship.”
Steve Osborne @Pack3rNa7ion
