According to former Rome manager Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo is the star of victory, opening the door to several European players moving towards the Saudi league.
“I think Cristiano Ronaldo opened the door in terms of believing that you can live and enjoy the development of the country there, and seeing that it wants to be a different country in terms of football and passion.”
🚨👀 EXCLUSIVE – José Mourinho: “To coach a national team is an objective for me”.
“Maybe right before World Cup, Euros or the Copa America, African Cup… I can, yes”.
“But waiting two years for that, I don’t know!”.
“Maybe one day it will happen”. pic.twitter.com/IJ38IsvSja
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 26, 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo had moved to Saudi al-nasr in January 2023, followed by several international players headed by Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Neymar, Riyadh Mahrez, N ‘Golo Kante and others
Mourinho added: “When I received an offer from Saudi Arabia, it was important and big in material terms, but I rejected it because my commitment to Rome and his presence in the European Championships, was more important to me.”
As to whether he could become the coach of a future Saudi club, he commented: “If you ask me once again in the future, experience has taught me that i should never to say no.”
Mourinho said: “I travel there to enjoy watching boxing and formula racing, not because I will sign any contracts because I have time until the end of the season to make the right decision.”