Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has finally lifted the lid on why he never moved from the Lowry Hotel in Salford to a home of his own during his two-and-a-half-year stint with Manchester United.
Speaking ahead of his return to Old Trafford as a Tottenham manager, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss, who took United to a second-place finish and two trophies, said he would have been rather unhappy in a home of his own.
“I would be unhappy if I was in a house on my own,” said Mourinho.
I would have to clean, I don't want [that]. I would have to iron, I don't know how to. I have to cook; I would cook fried eggs and sausages [because] that's the only thing I can do.
"I lived in an amazing apartment. It was not a room. It was mine all the time. It was not like after one week I had to leave. No, it was mine. I left everything there; my television, my books, my computer. It was a flat with 'bring me a coffee latte, please', or 'I don't want to go down for dinner, bring my dinner up'.
"If I was watching football or doing work with one of my assistants I would ask; 'bring us food'. I had everything. If I was in an apartment alone it would be much more difficult. I was fine - more than fine."
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Mourinho was let go by United in December 2018 after a poor run of form, and when asked about what went wrong, the Portuguese seemed reluctant to speak about it.
“For you it’s like I left Manchester United yesterday,’ Mourinho added.
“It was not yesterday, it was almost one year ago. I am now Tottenham. Again, if you want to speak about United as an opponent, let’s speak about them as an opponent.
“As for my history there, go to my office upstairs and I still have a couple of pictures of my Man United time and that’s it.
“One with the Europa League and my son in Stockholm and one with the Carabao Cup when you get the cup at the top of Wembley.”
Tottenham travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday in what is Mourinho’s visit at the venue since being sacked by United. And while the visitors enjoy an injury-free line-up, United are set to be without Anthony Martial, who was taken off after 82 minutes during his side’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa due to a reported muscle problem.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Lindsey Parnaby
