. The Fenerbahce head coach has unfinished business in the Premier League and has identified Newcastle as his best chance of another job in England, having managed Chelsea twice, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Mourinho made clear his unhappiness in Turkey with an extraordinary rant after Fenerbahce’s 3-2 win over Trabzonspor last Sunday. The Portuguese joined the club only last summer after being sacked by Roma in January but is eyeing other potential opportunities.
Mourinho is understood to have reached out to intermediaries asking to be kept abreast of any developments at Newcastle. The 61-year-old met Newcastle’s chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan, at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a social capacity in March and has maintained the connection.
In another sign of his itchy feet Mourinho was on charm offensive when United were in Istanbul for their Europa League game last month, greeting old colleagues and English journalists in the manner of long-lost friends.
Howe is not under immediate pressure and has been buoyed up by back-to-back victories over Chelsea and Arsenal after a difficult start to the season, but is not guaranteed long-term job security given the ambitions of Newcastle’s Saudi owners, who want the club in the Champions League. The 46-year-old lost two crucial allies when the directors Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi left last summer, and there has been tension with sporting director, Paul Mitchell, who was appointed in July.
Newcastle had gone five Premier League games without a win before beating Arsenal last Saturday and their league position of 11th is not good enough for the owners. Howe is expected to have Newcastle in the mix for European qualification despite the financial issues that forced them to sell several young players last June to avoid a breach …
Read More
