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Former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho revealed that he wasn’t close to joining Barcelona back in 2008.
Jose Mourinho spent three seasons at Real Madrid, during which time he won La Liga once. However, two years before Mourinho made the move in 2010 he was linked with the Barcelona job that eventually went to former player Pep Guardiola. After three seasons at Madrid, Mourinho made a return to Chelsea before joining Manchester United in 2016.
During a documentary titled “Report+,” the Portuguese manager revealed that he was asked to do an analysis of the Barcelona team in 2008, but nothing more:
“They asked me to do an analysis of the team's situation in an ugly, transitional, difficult moment . The person who asked me was someone top within the club. I did it, but nothing more. Then, luckily for me, the story is there.”
Needless to say, while recent football history could have gone a very different way if Jose Mourinho joined Barcelona as the manager, the Portuguese was never close to joining Real Madrid’s biggest rivals.
Former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was never close to joining Barcelona
Jose Mourinho back in 2008 was considered to be one of the best coaches in world football. He won the Champions League with Porto, two Premier League titles with Chelsea, and went on to win the treble with Inter Milan less than two years later.
While his CV was utterly impressive, his style of play might have irked the Barcelona hierarchy. The club had in its ranks a certain Lionel Messi along with a talented team of upcoming players who only needed experience in order to be world-beaters.
Barcelona’s tradition has also required a certain kind of possession-based football that Mourinho might have been reluctant to adopt. The Portuguese has his own playing style that he has never ditched throughout his long and illustrious career.
While the prospect of managing a player of Lionel Messi’s caliber along with the kind of stars in the Barcelona team might have been tempting, a number of factors must have played a part. Regardless, the manager himself will have few regrets, and has enjoyed an illustrious career thus far.
