Jose Mourinho wants to 'fight to win' at his next club and would not want to just settle for a top-half finish amid fanciful talk of him succeeding Rafa Benitez at Newcastle United .
The Magpies confirmed that Benitez will leave St James' Park when his contract expires on Sunday and club chiefs are now tasked with finding his successor - having not prepared for this eventuality.
Mourinho , who has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United in December, has emerged as one of the bookies' favourites but if you scratch a little at the link, there is little substance behind it.
Although the Portuguese admires the Geordies and has a spiritual connection to the club through mentor Sir Bobby Robson . Mourinho has prioritised stability, ambition and structure with his next move.
"The only thing that I know is what I don't want. What I don't want is crystal clear," he told the Coaches' Voice in a video filmed before Benitez's exit was confirmed. "What I want, the general profile of it, of course, but I cannot say, obviously, the clubs and country.
"I am quite pathological in this sense I have to play to win. Then if I win or don't win, that's my problem. That's my problem and the players and the structure. I need a project where the feeling is I play to win.
"If somebody gives me wonderful, incredible, 10-year contract and asks me the objective of the team is to stay in the first part of the table. 'If you finish seventh or eighth or ninth, that's perfect.' That's not for me.
"That's my nature. Of course, sometimes, I remember what I did before, what I won before, this kind of thing, but it's not me so my next is to fight to win."
