José Mourinho has said he is “too young” to contemplate managing in China despite the lucrative salaries on offer to work in the Chinese Super League.
The 53-year-old is six months into the three-year deal he signed with Manchester United and both he and club are keen for him to extend this further.
Mourinho, whose record makes him a target for clubs across the globe, believes he has many years left at the top of European club competition.
“China money is attractive for everyone but I love more my football at the highest level,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “I’m too young to go to a place like China. I want to stay in the most difficult place to win.”
Regarding a new contract with United he said: “They didn’t [offer it yet] and I’m not expecting them to do because they gave me a three-year contract. They were being super supportive with me. They always gave me the feeling that three years is not the time I’m going to stay.
“I always had the feeling I am going to stay for longer. They know that I’m loving it at every level, they know I’m loving my job at Manchester United, and I know that if one day they bring a new contract I sign it. I will sign it because I’m loving it.”
Mourinho has sympathy with the players in his squad who have not been given an opportunity to prove their worth.
He said: “I still have some bad feelings towards myself because I didn’t give real chance to everyone. Some positions in our squad have overbookings. The attacking wing positions, not just pure wingers but also others who can play there so we added Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney to Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Ashley Young.
“So to be honest people like Ashley Young and Memphis Depay I didn’t really give them a run of matches to play, to prove, so I have a little bit of a bad feeling.”
