Paris Saint-Germain have made an approach to Jose Mourinho to become their new manager this summer, according to Sky Sports.
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi is understood to have instigated the approach to Mourinho – via his agent Jorge Mendes – immediately after PSG’s Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester City last week, having grown frustrated at the club’s lack of progress in Europe under Laurent Blanc.
Sky Sports reports Mourinho’s preference is to wait until the end of the season and monitor any developments at Manchester United, although he does consider PSG a credible choice for his return to management and is considering his options.
Mourinho is known to have a friendship with Al-Khelaifi, which pre-dates the Qatari’s ownership of PSG. Al-Khelaifi has tried to appoint the 53-year-old as manager twice before, and remains convinced the Portuguese is the man most likely to achieve the club’s ambition of winning the Champions League.
Last week, Al-Khelaifi could not hide his disappointment after PSG were knocked out of the Champions League by City, and admitted Blanc took a “tactical gamble” by playing a three-man defence in the second leg, which they lost 1-0, eventually going out 3-2 on aggregate.
The manner of the defeat was branded a “fiasco” by sports newspaper L’Equipe, and despite the fact Blanc signed a new two-year contract in February keeping keep him at the club until 2018, Al-Khelaifi now wants Mourinho to replace him this summer.
PSG’s approach to Mourinho will not go unnoticed among the Manchester United hierarchy, who will review Louis van Gaal’s position at the end of the season. United currently sit four points off the top four in the Premier League with five games remaining, but could still win the FA Cup.
Speaking to Sky Sports on April 9, Mourinho denied any agreement was in place for him to join Manchester United in the summer. “I am always linked with jobs and in the summer I will have a job, but in this moment I can promise you I do not have a contract with any club,” he said.
Were United to sack Van Gaal this summer and replace him with Mourinho, it would also have an impact upon player recruitment at Old Trafford.
Last week, Sky Sports revealed Zlatan Ibrahimovic would only be willing to join Manchester United if Van Gaal left the club. The Swede is available on a free transfer this summer but in his 2011 autobiography I Am Zlatan, he alluded to a strained relationship with Van Gaal during their time together at Ajax.
Meanwhile, United are known admirers of John Stones, who Mourinho unsuccessfully tried to bring to Chelsea from Everton last summer. Everton rejected three bids from Chelsea for the defender, and refused to sell Stones. It is understood Mourinho would approve of signing both the 21-year-old and Ibrahimovic if he were to take over at Old Trafford.
