Jose Mourinho remains on course for a sixth European final as a manager after his Roma side claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen at the Stadio Olimpico in the Europa League semi-final first leg. The Portuguese boss was hailed as the ‘King of Rome’ after guiding the Serie A side to an inaugural Europa Conference League title last term – in the process delivering the club’s first trophy in 14 years. However, speculation has been rife in recent days that Mourinho may leave Roma this summer for an 11th managerial challenge, at Paris St-Germain. Mourinho jokingly laughed off the speculation on Wednesday, telling Sky Sport Italia, “If they called, they didn’t find me.” Roma’s hopes of reaching the Champions League appear to rest on Europa League glory, with the Giallorossi currently seventh in Italy’s top flight, so could he be tempted if the phone call comes?
Mourinho’s record of five wins in five European finals is likely to appeal to a club that has earned a reputation for stumbling on Europe’s biggest stage. PSG’s failure to progress past Bayern Munich in the last 16 of this term’s Champions League was just the latest painful elimination from a competition that has become an obsession since they moved into Qatari ownership in 2011, with current boss Christophe Galtier expected to leave at the end of the campaign. Whoever is at the helm is expected to be presented with a considerably larger transfer kitty that the nine million euros outlaid by Roma last summer. Italian football journalist James Horncastle believes Mourinho sees Roma as a way to bounce back to another big job, and that he would like a project that is befitting his legacy again, which would be the chance to compete for a Champions League. Spanish journalist Guillem Balague believes that if PSG back him up, Mourinho is the manager for them, as they don’t need someone to reinvent the wheel but rather someone to organise from the top and give them direction. French football journalist Julien Laurens added that Mourinho’s best friend and agent Jorge Mendes is very influential and his name has come up in a shortlist of managers to replace Christophe Galtier. He might end up being the manager, he might not but certainly in Campos, there are favourable grounds.