With the dust now pretty much settled on Jose Mourinho’s sacking at Tottenham, particularly given his quick move to Roma, attention now turns to the future for the Portuguese boss.
His spell with Spurs has only helped to give his reputation another battering, with many now firmly convinced he is past it rather than one of the best.
That, of course, is a matter of opinion, but Tottenham’s eagerness to get rid of and pay a high price to do so suggests the Mourinho magic continues to dwindle rather than thrive.
It’s been a tough few years for the once iconic coach and, while his reputation has taken something of a mauling; as a result, it’s affected others too.
Step forward super-agent Jorge Mendes. He’s represented Mourinho for a long time and earned a pretty penny as a result too.
Times, though, are hard for the one-time leader of the transfer market, as El Confidencial cover in their piece today.
You see, Mourinho was once one of the shining jewels in Mendes’ crown, having starred with the likes of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and even Real Madrid.
He was undoubtedly the best coach Mendes had on his books and, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, was an ‘infallible’ bet to bring in money. Now, though, they are ‘devalued’.
Rather than the big contracts of old, Mendes is having issues getting good deals for his clients again, and Mourinho is the perfect example of this.
El Confidencial explain how Mendes ‘drew up a strategy’ to relaunch Mourinho in 2019 and that led him to Tottenham, where the agent had to ‘convince’ Daniel Levy into the appointment.
He told the Tottenham chief that Mourinho had the ‘challenge and ability’ to turn the side that was brushed aside by Liverpool in the Champions League final into a winning one, and in came Mourinho as Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement.
Seventeen months later, though, he was leaving through the back door, with a trail of doubts about his leadership and tactical knowledge in his wake.
That’s what has led him to Roma as Mendes was ‘in a great hurry’ to get his client into a job and avoid him falling into oblivion, but the big clubs simply weren’t interested.
Mourinho has even had to take a massive wage cut for Roma, going from €18m at Tottenham to €7m in Italy (with differing claims on whether Spurs are making up the difference) just to avoid being unemployed.
That’s obviously had a knock-on effect for Mendes, whose star clients suddenly aren’t shining quite as brightly as they once were, with Spurs’ former coach at the top of that pile.
