Jose Mourinho has chosen his next club, confirms Lyon president Aulas

Jose Mourinho TEAMtalk

Jose Mourinho has chosen his next job after rejecting the opportunity to join Lyon, according to Jean-Michel Aulas.

The former Manchester United boss was targeted by Aulas at Lyon, but the Ligue 1 club’s president says that Mourinho “has accepted an offer from another club”.

Aulas, looking for a new coach after recently sacking Sylvinho, confirmed he had contacted the 56-year-old over potentially succeeding the Brazilian coach.

“We had some fairly flattering exchanges over SMS,” Aulas was quoted by Get French Football News.

“It was nice for everyone. He did not accept our proposal to meet because he has already chosen another club.”

RMC reported that Mourinho, who was sacked by Manchester United last December, had turned down the opportunity earlier this week with his heart set on another job in the Premier League.

It is understood that Mourinho is looking at the Tottenham manager’s job, as speculation over the future of Mauricio Pochettino rages on.

The Daily Mail suggested Mourinho is open to the idea of replacing Pochettino should the Argentinian leave.

 

 

 

Speaking about the summer appointment of Sylvinho, Aulas admitted it was a mistake.

“I did not know of him before Juninho told me about him. I had no interest in taking a Sporting Director and Head Coach for the sole purpose of pleasing the fans… The defensive style that he offered created a destabilising effect in terms of the normal attacking style of Lyon. We made a mistake but in general we don’t make a mistake twice.”

Laurent Blanc is now understood to be Lyon’s top target, but Aulas said: “If he was my priority, I wouldn’t tell you.”

While Patrick Vieira is also believed to be in the running.

“He is certainly one of the managers that I like the most. Gérard Houllier knows him well after they rubbed shoulders in New York. Sadly, he is under contract, he is not free,” added Aulas.