Mourinho distances himself from Newcastle manager’s job

Jose Mourinho has appeared to rule out replacing Rafa Benitez at Newcastle United because he says he is a “winner”.

The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss says he does not want to manage a club who would be happy finishing ninth.

Mourinho, who has been out of work since December, had been linked with the post with reports of a takeover by Dubai-based billionaire, Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan.

Mourinho told The Coaches’ Voice before Benitez’s departure: “The only thing that I know is what I don’t want: I am quite pathological in the sense of I have to play to win.

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“Then, if I don’t win, then that’s my problem and the players and the club and the structure but I need a project where the feeling is I play to win.

“If somebody gives me a wonderful 10-year contract and the objective of the team is to stay in the first half of the table and if you finish seventh, eighth or ninth, it’s perfect, then that’s not for me. That’s my nature.

“My next [position] is to fight to win.”

A number of experienced managers have already expressed an interest in the role, including Claudio Ranieri and former Arsenal defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst.