‘I rejected PSG offer twice’

LONDON. — Jose Mourinho claims he was approached to take over as Paris Saint-Germain manager twice – including being the “first choice” for the job ahead of Carlo Ancelotti in December 2011. The Chelsea boss revealed he rejected the chance to leave the Spanish capital for the French equivalent during the season he went on to lift the La Liga title with Real Madrid.

And Mourinho also expects PSG to win the Champions League at some point soon, stating a final between the French champions and his current side Chelsea would be “fantastic”.
The 51-year-old told Telefoot yesterday: “I knew about the project (at PSG) even before it began. I was Leonardo’s first choice (ahead of Ancelotti).
“And when Carlo left (in 2013), they made me another offer. I have rejected them twice.

“I thought a lot about it. But the first time, there was Real Madrid and the second time there was Chelsea.
“The club has an enormous amount of quality, Laurent Blanc is a good manager, Al-Khelaifi a good president. They are in good hands. In the Champions League, they have gained some experience – they can win it.”

Interestingly, since he was approached for the PSG job Mourinho has returned to Chelsea and Ancelotti has replaced the Portuguese as Real boss.
And Mourinho has revealed his admiration for French centre-back Raphael Varane, although he does not expect the 21-year-old to leave Spain any time soon.

“Everybody is talking about Varane coming to Chelsea because they know he is a player I like a lot but everybody knows that he will stay at Real Madrid,” he added.
Mourinho was also full of praise for his fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo, who he compared favourably with French great Zinedine Zidane.

He explained: “Ronaldo is like for you (France) with Zidane – there will not be any more (like them).
“He is an incredible player, a real goal machine.”

In terms of where he can see himself coaching in the future, Mourinho was coy on the possibility of taking his own national job.
He said: “Become Portugal coach? The country is waiting…

“Everyone has the right to think he’s special.” — Mailonline