The odds on Jose Mourinho being the next Premiership manager to leave his job have plummeted after he was linked with a sensational move to Paris Saint Germain. The Man Utd boss was 100/1 in this market a couple of weeks ago but he has been backed all the way into 20/1 with William Hill after the PSG link. The Portuguese has endured a tough few weeks as his side won just one of their last four games and fell eight points behind runaway leaders Man City at the top of the Premiership. He spoke glowingly about PSG and some believe he is posturing in a bid to force his club to back him with even more money in the transfer market. But the PSG job is probably the most exciting in world football right now and Mourinho may well jump at the chance to move to the Parc des Princes.
Just this summer Mourinho was talking about hoping to stay at Man Utd for 15 years in an effort to emulate the magic of Sir Alex Ferguson’s long and glittering reign. He is less than 18 months into his tenure at Old Trafford but is already being linked with an exit. “The other day my son who lives in London went to Paris and not to Manchester to watch the match,” Mourinho said. “At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth, it’s fantastic.”
Such comments will not have gone unnoticed among the PSG hierarchy as they are said to be less than pleased with coach Unai Emery’s performance. The former Sevilla manager lost out to Monaco in Ligue 1 last campaign – his debut season – and they are likely to view Mourinho as an upgrade. PSG have already spent astronomical sums on recruiting Neymar and Kylian Mbappe this year to assemble one of the most outrageously talented teams in the world. They dismantled Bayern Munich in the Champions League and it was thrilling to witness their complete performance. However, the club’s Qatari owners want the Champions League and Mourinho has already won it twice, at Porto and Inter, so he would be a great signing for them.
Despite talking about remaining at Old Trafford for years, there has always been something of the mercenary about Mourinho and he has never stayed in any job for more than a few years. You could accuse him of going to wealthy clubs, bleeding them dry, earning short-term success and leaving them in a mess, with aging players and a massive rebuilding job on their hands.
He is apparently demanding more money for transfers, but in less than 18 months he has already been allowed to snap up Paul Pogba for £89 million, Romelu Lukaku for £75 million and a host more stars for astronomical sums. They may have won the Europa League and league cup last season but finished a disappointing sixth in the league, and they look set to lose out to a rampant Man City this year. Perhaps Mourinho, always a sore loser, could seek to engineer a move to spare his own blushes and instead lead PSG to glory.
This is, however, a competitive market, even after West Ham axed Slaven Bilic. He became the fourth Premiership manager to lose his job, after Frank De Boer, Craig Shakespeare, and Ronald Koeman, and many more are set to follow as panicking owners get itchy trigger fingers. Paul Clement is now the 3/1 favourite with Bet Victor and it looks likely he will be made to walk the plank soon as his Swansea side are second bottom and dreadful going forwards, so he looks a better option than the 20/1 Mourinho. Meanwhile, Tony Pulis is 3/1 at William Hill and Sky Bet, because West Brom also look in real trouble, while you can get 10/1 on Antonio Conte with Bet Victor. Roman Abramovic has twice fired Mourinho and will do the same to Conte eventually, but right now the smart money looks to be on Clement. However, a 20/1 long shot on Mourinho does look tempting given his recent comments.
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