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Jose Mourinho open to managing in France

Jose Mourinho was seen attending a match between Montpellier and Lille and was seated alongside the latter's sporting advisor Luis Campos, who served as chief scout when the Portuguese was manager at Real Madrid.

Mourinho has been replaced at United by former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the club languishing in sixth and 19 points off the pace. (Reuters Photo)

Jose Mourinho said that he could see himself coaching in France one day. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid made these comments after attending a 0-0 draw between Montpellier and Lille in the French Ligue 1. “I can imagine (coaching) in France one day,” Mourinho said. “I’m a man who’s worked in four different countries, who likes that, who likes to know other cultures.”

“I like to learn all the time, to work in a different league would be a fantastic experience. (At the moment) I’m calm, I’m trying to enjoy life with family and friends and calmly working to hopefully find another opportunity in football.”

Mourinho was last employed as the manager of Manchester United and was sacked from that position in December, 2018. It was later revealed that the move cost the Premier League giants 19.6 million pounds. Prior to that, he coached Chelsea in England, Real Madrid in Spain, Inter in Italy and Porto in his home country Portugal.

Since his sacking from United, Mourinho has been working as a pundit for Qatar’s beIN Sports. On Sunday, he was pictured sitting alongside Lille sporting advisor Luis Campos at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Campos is a friend of Mourinho’s and served as chief scout when the Portuguese was in charge at Real Madrid.

According to AFP, Mourinho was in the stadium to watch French winger Pepe and Brazilian midfielder Thiago Mendes. Pepe, 23, is the third leading scorer in France this season with 16 goals, trailing only Paris Saint-Germain duo Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, and also has eight assists for second-placed Lille.

Mourinho has been replaced at United by former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the club languishing in sixth and 19 points off the pace. United since went on an 11-match unbeaten run across competitions, winning 10 out of them and are now fourth with 51 points. They were finally beaten by PSG in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.