Jose Mourinho breaks silence on PSG job as he refuses to rule out leaving Roma to replace Christophe Galtier
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JOSE MOURINHO claims he has heard nothing from Paris Saint-Germain as he sets his sights on more European glory with Roma.
The Portuguese, 60, is a contender to replace Christophe Galtier at the Parc des Princes this summer.
But while he did not exactly rule out a potential switch, his more pressing issue is winning Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final first leg.
That is against a Bayer Leverkusen team led by one of his former players, Xabi Alonso.
Yet while news in France has emerged that Mourinho’s reps had already spoken with PSG, the former Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United boss — with a wry smile — said: “If they looked for me, they didn’t find me. They haven’t reached out to me.”
Mourinho, who has one year left on his current deal at the Stadio Olimpico, led Roma to success in the final of last year’s inaugural Europa Conference League.
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Roma have now stepped up admirably this season although will have their work cut out against an impressive Bayer team.
Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, 41, won the LaLiga title under Mourinho at Real Madrid in 2012 and is one of the managers in the frame for the vacant Spurs job.
Mourinho said: “We have always had a fantastic rapport, more than between a coach and a player.”
Bayer are sixth in the Bundesliga and Mourinho reckons they are currently one of Europe’s top counter-attacking teams.
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He said: “Xabi is very pragmatic. He uses the style that suits his players more, five or six of them could run the 100 metres with Marcell Jacobs at the Olympics.
“They are very dangerous in this moment, they defend, wait for the opponent to lose the ball and then it’s difficult to stop them.”
Striker Paulo Dybala and ex-Liverpool ace Gini Wijnaldum are fit again but are likely to join former Red Devils' defender Chris Smalling on the bench.
Missing for Bayer will be the injured Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is on loan from Chelsea.
Bayer sporting director Simon Rolfes is confident the club can reach a first showpiece European clash since 2002, when they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Rolfes said: “We have the qualities to hurt Roma.
"It will certainly be a very exciting game.
“Roma will try to disrupt our flow. If we’re able to play our game we have good chance to win and advance.”