Fabrizio Romano confirms Jose Mourinho turned down massive salary offer from Saudi Arabian club
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has said that AS Roma boss Jose Mourinho turned down a massive contract proposal from Saudi giants Al Hilal.
Romano says that Al-Za'eem sent the renowned Portuguese coach an offer of €30 million per season net salary. However, the two-time UEFA Champions League winner turned down the proposal, as he's focused on his job at Roma.
Jose Mourinho led the Serie A giants to their second consecutive European final. However, I Giallorossi suffered a 4-1 defeat on penalties to Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League final following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
The former Real Madrid boss has a year left in his contract at the Stadio Olimpico and seemingly intends on seeing that out. He won the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022 with Roma.
Al Hilal moved for Mourinho before making efforts to try and lure Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri to the King Fahd International Stadium. However, the Italian also turned down the opportunity to head to the Saudi Pro League.
Nevertheless, Al-Za'eem are clearly making efforts to get a proven winning tactician to take the reigns. They missed out on the league title last season to Al Ittihad by five points.
Al Hilal have signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea and Ruben Neves from Wolverhampton Wanderers. They were in the race to sign legendary forward Lionel Messi before he chose to join MLS side Inter Miami instead.
Jose Mourinho also turned down Portugal national team job
Jose Mourinho was also wanted by the Portugal national team to replace Fernando Santos. The latter departed after Selecao das Quinas' elimination in the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
However, Mourinho decided against succeeding Santos and confirmed that in an interview with Cabine Sport. He said that he was honoured to have been eyed for the role:
"The fact that the president of the FPF said that I was not his first choice, but his only choice, makes me proud. But I decided not to go. I'm here (at Roma), and that's what matters."
Mourinho is yet to dip his toe into international management during his illustrious career. He has coached in Spain, England, Portugal and Italy with the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea, Porto and Inter Milan.
The Portuguese tactician has a proven resume, winning titles in all four of those countries. He's also the only manager to win all three European competitions (UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League).
However, Portugal were unable to entice the legendary coach to replace Santos. They instead appointed former Belgium manager Roberto Martinez on a three-year deal.