Mourinho reveals his retirement plans

FT Desk

23 Sep 2022 02:57 CDT
3 min read

Jose Mourinho, Roma, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Jose Mourinho has won 26 major honours in a glittering 22-year career. Is "The Special One" ready to call it a day?

Mourinho recently equalled Sir Alex Ferguson's tally of 106 European wins in the Champions League era when his Roma side beat HJK Helsinki 3-0 in the Europa League last Thursday.

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Roma are taking part in the Europa League having won the Europa Conference League last season, with Mourinho becoming the first manager in history to win both of those tournaments as well as the Champions League, which he previously led Porto and Inter Milan to.

Jose Mourinho literally parking the bus 🚌 pic.twitter.com/pornlUaFsZ
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) May 28, 2022

Speaking at Portugal's Golden Globes ceremony - during which futsal legend Ricardinho hinted that Cristiano Ronaldo should retire - Mourinho, now 59, lifted the lid on his plans for the rest of his career.

Mourinho: 'I feel good'

"These 22 years have passed quickly, but I want to continue," he said. "I feel good, I feel strong, motivated, I like winning, I hate losing, nothing has changed. The colour of my hair, yes, even the wrinkles, but I want to go on. Not for another 22 years, as there is no time, but for a few more years."

Roma beat Leicester City and Feyenoord on the way to Europa Conference League glory last season, as well as finishing sixth in Serie A, meaning they would have qualified for the Europa League anyway.

Mourinho ranks those achievements highly, given Roma's shoestring budget.

"Last season we did what no one expected, this year we'll try to do better," he continued. "We don't have the same economic potential as our rivals. We had a €7 million transfer market, but we have quality, passion, many people who like to work together, which is an important thing, and then at the end of the season we will see."

Roma spent €6.3m of Lille right-back Zeki Celik this summer, but made some shrewd moves on the free transfer market, with Paulo Dybala and Nemanja Matic arriving on Bosmans from Juventus and Manchester United respectively.