French football expert Jonathan Johnson has written exclusively for CaughtOffside about Paris Saint-Germain’s managerial search, including the links with Roma boss Jose Mourinho.
While Mourinho is a big name who could be a strong candidate to fix PSG’s problems, Johnson can’t see the Portuguese tactician being the leading contender for the job, naming Zinedine Zidane and Thiago Motta as more likely options for the Ligue 1 giants.
Christophe Galtier has endured a difficult season with PSG and it makes sense that the club could now make a change, and Johnson acknowledges that there could be some sense in bringing in a straight shooter like Mourinho to deal with the egos in this current squad at the Parc des Princes.
Still, it’s also the case that Mourinho has distanced himself from working in France in the past, so it’s not clear if his stance will now have shifted.
“There is the feeling that, really, what PSG are missing is that professional, winning culture, that would help them as they try to model themselves on some of the more successful institutions of European football,” Johnson wrote.
“Still, it could be that trying root through the drama and issues in this squad, someone as aggressive and as straight-talking as Mourinho wouldn’t be the worst pick for PSG.
“The issue, in my opinion, is whether or not even a strong character like Mourinho would be capable of keeping a lid on this PSG squad, keeping them focused, and taking out a lot of the elements that seem to lead to the implosions that plague them every year.
“The reason Mourinho has never previously been a strong candidate for them, as I understand it, is because of a sort of historic lack of interest, for want of a better word – Mourinho has never seemed interested in coming to France or to PSG, I don’t know if that’s a specific issue with the project, or a preference for the leagues in England and Italy, or just because he’s perhaps preparing the ground for PSG at some point, if they really want him, to make a massive offer and a massive effort for him.
“If Luis Campos stays on at PSG then there could be a good Portuguese connection there, but my honest opinion is that Mourinho is probably behind some of the other candidates being talked about, such as Zinedine Zidane or Thiago Motta, but we’ll see.
“Mourinho’s done a good job with Roma and if he manages to win the Europa League that’ll be a very impressive achievement. I think his spell in Serie A has certainly repaired his reputation to some degree and there could be a lot of interest in him this summer.”