Jose Mourinho signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce to be the club’s new coach on Sunday. The Portuguese manager will start a new chapter of his career in the Turkish Super Lig where he will start coaching in his first experience outside one of the five major European leagues since he left Porto in 2004. Mourinho, after parting ways with AS Roma last January, was looking for a new job in the recent weeks. The Special One landed in Istanbul on Sunday and signed the contract after being presented in front of his new fans at the stadium. He was welcomed by thousands of fans upon his arrival.
Mourinho spoke after signing the contract.
“Normally a coach is loved after victories, in this case, I feel that love before victories. And that for me is a big responsibility that I feel and I promise you that from this moment I belong to this family, this shirt is my skin. Since the moment I met president Ali Koc and understood his ideas and projects, I wanted to play for you, I want to be the coach of all of you. From the moment I signed my contract, your dreams are now my dreams.”
“I welcome our coach Mourinho on behalf of our fans. He is one of the best coaches of world football history. I’m sure he’ll be the winner coach here, as he had been in other clubs in the past,” club chairman Ali Koc said.
After coaching Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham and AS Roma, Mourinho will now be coaching in a new league. The Special One coached AS Roma over the past two and a half years, where he won the UEFA Conference League in 2022 and reached the UEFA Europa League final last season and only lost in penalties against Sevilla. In a recent interview with Fabrizio Romano, Mourinho said that he’s ready to be back on the sideline in the summer of 2024.Â
Turkish side Besiktas were also interested in appointing Mourinho, as the club’s vice president revealed in a recent interview, but in the end, it’s Fenerbahce who get their man ahead of what they hope is a promising spell.
