Behind the scenes of Jose Mourinho’s shock appointment as Roma manager

Jose Mourinho has been announced as the new manager of AS Roma, and the Special One will be taking over from the beginning of the 21/22 season. A detailed behind the scenes account of the surprise signing was shared by Fabrizio Romano on the Here We Go podcast. 

Thiago Pinto, Roma’s general director has a Portuguese background and was involved with Benfica in the past. Jose was really disappointed to be sacked before the Carabao Cup final, which happened to be the Monday of the Super League announcement. 

Roma contacted him five days after his sacking from Tottenham. The American owners of the club, the Friedkin Group, met directly with him. The first meeting was held in Portugal with Thiago Pinto and then in London with the owners. He said yes to the offer immediately, and is very happy to be back. 

All Serie A fans are excited regardless. He is a serial winner and is perfect for the type of football played in the country, alongside his tactical philosophy. Roma is difficult to manage as well given the current situation around the club, which needs rebuilding. The more he goes on the more he goes in a more complicated situation, but the Portuguese manager has no fear of any kind and has a winning mentality. 

Roma fans are excited because now they have a great manager and they could get back to winning ways now. He wanted to come back to Italy firstly because of the power of Mourinho with the club. Deciding about the strategies in the transfer market wasn’t always with Manchester United or Tottenham, which is why there was such tension. 

At Roma, he will have guarantees and they will work together on transfers with Thiago Pinto. He will also be a part of the board to some extent, and will have more say than a traditional manager or head coach. 

Roma is under a new ownership and they are a new property now, since the takeover of the Friedkin Group. Mourinho will earn €7 million net per season for three years till 2024. First season, Spurs will pay €9 million to cover the €16 million he had on the contract when he was sacked.