Jose Mourinho wants Tottenham to be his last job in English football and has targeted matching Mauricio Pochettino’s five-and-a-half years in charge.
The 56-year-old replaced his friend in the Spurs dugout following Pochettino’s ruthless sacking earlier this week.
It is his fourth role in this country following two stints at Chelsea and one at Manchester United and Mourinho is keen to make it his last before retiring to Portugal.
He will have to break a recent trend for that to happen, though, as none of his last four jobs have lasted longer than three seasons.
Asked whether this will be his last managerial role in this country, he replied: “I would love that to be the case. I would love to stay for many years.
“I say many years but I know realistically how football is.
“If I could do a Mauricio for five-and-a-half years, it would be amazing. I would be 61 – then 10 more years. Vitoria Setubal in Portugal maybe the last job.”
It begins tomorrow… #THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/ssBqIBSaAE — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 22, 2019
However long it lasts it is sure to be an interesting period and this season at least will be caught on camera in an Amazon documentary.
The deal was agreed before Mourinho came into the position and puts him in a tricky position given his criticism of the Manchester City version of the same ‘All or Nothing’ series.
The Portuguese said City “lacked class” after an early episode showed footage of a Mourinho press conference where he was talking about Kevin De Bruyne’s struggles at Chelsea.
At the time of its release, when he was still United manager, Mourinho said: “You can be a rich club and buy all the best players in the world but you cannot buy class.
A new chapter begins at @SpursOfficial… pic.twitter.com/VUrLRv2DhU — Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) November 20, 2019
“Because I am in the movie I could ask for some royalties.”
He seemed in a much better mood when the subject came up at his unveiling at Spurs on Thursday.
Asked about it during his briefing with the daily newspapers, Mourinho stood up, took a microphone battery pack out of his pocket and pursed his lips together as if to suggest it would be best not to say anything.
Playing up to the moment, he then looked over to the camera crew who were filming in the corner.
Another situation he has walked into is the stand-off between the club and contract rebels Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
All three are out of contract in the summer and can start talking to foreign clubs about a summer move in a matter of weeks.
None of them looked set to sign new deals under Pochettino and Mourinho says he has not had time to address the situation yet.
“It is too early. Early days. I have no time for individual cases,” he said. “I don’t know how I can influence or try to influence. I did not have time.
“I did not have time. Mr Levy did not have time to go around this.
“The first thing is for the players to feel good and if they are going to leave in January, if they are going to leave in June, or if they are going to sign a new contract, I think everything has to be based on feeling good.”
