PSG are obsessed with Champions League success: Can Mourinho deliver the holy grail of European football?
With current boss Thomas Tuchel facing the sack after a disappointing season in Paris, the rumour mills have gone into overdrive. Jose Mourinho who is currently out of work is being touted as a potential replacement for Tuchel.
Mourinho has previously spoken of his desire to manage in France:
"I can imagine myself as a coach in Ligue 1. I am a man who has worked in four different countries, I like to know and learn other cultures. Working in a new championship would be a fantastic experience.”
If PSG decides to give Tuchel the boot at the end of the season, it won’t come as a surprise. Despite success in the French league, Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc, and Unai Emery have all been mercilessly sacked after they failed to bring home the holy grail of European football.
The Champions League remains an obsession for Paris St-Germain, ever since Qatar Sports Investments became a majority shareholder in PSG in 2011. Despite lavishing £1 billion in the transfer market since the Qatari takeover, PSG has failed to go beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
For PSG, there is nothing left to conquer at home. They have been serial champions. The Parisians long for European glory, and Mourinho's sterling pedigree at the European stage makes him an ideal candidate for the job at Parc des Princes.
For nearly two decades, Mourinho has helped himself to 23 major honours in four different countries. Titles in Portugal, Spain, Italy and England, in addition to a pair of Champions League crowns (with Inter Milan and Porto), and of course the Europa League win with Manchester United is a remarkable tale of legacy-building and history-making.
Additionally, Mourinho’s famed defensive stability is what PSG needs at the European stage. There is no way a Mourinho-led PSG side would have lost 6-1 at the Nou Camp. However, Mourinho still has much to prove after being bombed out by Manchester United with some suggesting the Portuguese is past his best.
If Mourinho can bring European glory that PSG so desperately craves, he would definitely go down in history as one of the greatest manager’s of all time.