Following his sacking from Fenerbahce earlier this season, Jose Mourinho is circling an immediate return to management and is being lined up to join Benfica in a move which would put in on a collision course with former club Chelsea.
Mourinho was dismissed by Fenerbahce after failing to qualify for the Champions League and his time in Turkey ended in August just over a year since he joined the Super Lig outfit.
Reports on Wednesday morning suggest that the 62-year-old is one of the favourites to take over from Bruno Lage who was sacked by Benfica on Tuesday evening mere hours after the team’s surprise 3-2 defeat to Qarabag in the Champions League.
Should Mourinho re-join Benfica it would mark a sensational return to the Portuguese club he began his managerial career with 25 years ago. Even more remarkably, it was Benfica who beat Mourinho’s Fenerbahce to deny them a spot in the Champions League this season.
Back in 2000, Mourinho managed Benfica for 11 games before taking a full time position at Uniao de Leiria and later enjoying success at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Benfica are sixth in the Primeira Liga having won three and drawn one of their opening four matches but less than positive performances and the defeat to Qarabag proved decisive for the board to relieve themselves of Bruno Lage in search of a ‘winner’.
Club president Rui Costa said: “We have reached an agreement with Bruno Lage to step down as Benfica’s coach. I thank him for everything he’s done for our club, but we believe it’s time for a change.
“Regarding the next coach, we expect to have the new one on the bench at Vila das Aves next Saturday. We’ve had a tough week for all Benfica fans, after the match against Santa Clara and this match against Qarabag. We haven’t compromised anything, we haven’t dropped out of any competition, but I believe this is the time for a change.
“The Benfica coach must be a winner. He must be a coach who represents a club of this size and has the ability to bring this team to the required levels. We won’t talk about names. Benfica is currently without a coach. The only thing that happened after the game was the conversation with Bruno Lage. No coach has been hired today.”
Should a deal be agreed with Benfica, Mourinho will likely be in place ahead of this weekend’s fixtures and will face a return to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in Champions League on September 30.
