Making a massive revelation, Yahoo Sports have shockingly claimed that Liverpool approached then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho right after the sacking of Brendan Rodgers in 2015, but the Portuguese gaffer rejected the invitation.
The source claims that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) approached Mourinho during the final weeks of his second spell as Chelsea manager. With Chelsea struggling to get back to form back then, the Liverpool owners were made aware that Roman Abramovich will soon be parting ways with Mourinho. Hence, the officials wasted no time in approaching the Portuguese, who had led Chelsea to a Premier League triumph in the previous campaign.
Jose Mourinho, with no idea of what future held for him, declined the offer as he was of the belief that Chelsea would give him more time to find his groove back. But little did he know as Chelsea parted company with him “by mutual consent” in mid-December. Liverpool, who had just sacked Brendan Rodgers after a poor run of form, decided to bring Jurgen Klopp to Anfield instead.
The aforementioned source has also claimed that Fenway Sports Group aren’t the only Liverpool owners to have approached Mourinho for a Liverpool job. Back in 2004, when Mourinho was at Porto, Liverpool made contact with the Portuguese ahead of his team’s round of 16 match against Manchester United in the Champions League. No move, however, materialised.
Mourinho, back then, went on to publicly express his desire of taking the Liverpool job, but Chelsea’s then-new owner Roman Abramovich reacted swiftly and secured Jose out of nowhere. Further details reveal that at that time, Mourinho was not contracted to any agent and had announced he is ready to listen to interesting proposals for the following season (his last season with Porto).
A certain negotiator from Brazil named Jorge Baidek was given the task to bring Mourinho at Anfield, while at the same time, Jorge Mendes – who wasn’t as big a name back then – proposed Mourinho to Chelsea. Both Abramovich and Mendes worked their brains out and bang, Mourinho was at Stamford Bridge.
“Abramovich was fast and moved, and Mendes was more clever than Baidek,” a source was quoted by Yahoo Sports.
And in the same summer, 2004, Liverpool saw a change of guard as well, with Rafael Benitez replacing Gérard Houllier.
Ironically, the story is same the other way round as well. Jurgen Klopp’s preferred destination in England was Manchester United before he joined Liverpool, and that is according to his mentor Eckhard Krautzun who was in charge of Mainz when Klopp was a player there.
Krautzun said that he even gave Sir Alex Ferguson an idea of considering Klopp for the job. Speaking in an interview with The Set Pieces, he said (as quoted by Yahoo Sports)
“It would be his dream to go to England one day and his favourite club would be United. That’s what he said.
“After three or four months not working, I knew that he wanted to be in action again. I said (to Ferguson), ‘Jurgen Klopp, if he goes abroad, if he goes to England, his love would be Manchester United.’
“When the offer came from Liverpool, I knew he would not hesitate because he wanted to get into a top club in England.”
Ferguson, however, opted for Mourinho instead, but the Portuguese decided to return to Chelsea, only to find himself in the United hot seat couple of years down the line.
Football is a funny game they say… Well said!
https://youtu.be/YyPoZjcigc8
