José Mourinho is returning to football with Fenerbahce, after the Turkish club announced his appointment as manager on Sunday.
The Portuguese coach had opened talks with the Istanbul giants on Saturday over replacing Ismail Kartal, and appears to have quickly reached an agreement. Mourinho will be unveiled at a ceremony at the club’s Sukru Saracoglu stadium on Sunday evening.
Late on Saturday, Fenerbahce posted a video message from Mourinho on X, in which he told Fenerbahce fans he would “see you tomorrow in Kadikoy, and let’s start our journey together.” No details of the length of his contract have been released at this stage.
An official club statement added: “Saracoglu is waiting for its new coach José Mourinho and its great fans at 7pm,” followed up by a post on Sunday morning with a picture of the manager and the caption “MOU zamani” (Mou time).
It will be the 61-year-old’s first job since he left Roma in January after two-and-a-half years marked by winning the Europa Conference League in 2022 and a series of disputes with referees.
The well-travelled coach, who has been in charge of some of the biggest clubs in Europe, is set to take over a team that finished second in the Super Lig – three points behind their city rivals Galatasaray.
Previous manager Kartal oversaw only one loss in the league, but six draws proved to be costly in a relentless title race. He left the club on Friday, fuelling speculation that Mourinho was set to replace him.
Mourinho, who has won trophies with clubs such as Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid and Manchester United, will be tasked with helping Fenerbahce to win their first league title since 2013-14.
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The 61-year-old helped Roma to clinch their first European trophy when they won the Europa Conference League in 2022, while he also guided them to the Europa League final the following year, losing to Sevilla on penalties.
But when he was sacked in January Roma were ninth in Serie A. He was replaced by the former Italy player Daniele De Rossi and Roma eventually finished sixth, to qualify for the Europa League.
Source: theguardian.com
