Revealed: Madrid offered Mourinho Sh1.5 billion to reject Tottenham
Gossip & Rumours
By
Mirror
| Dec 02, 2019
Real Madrid allegedly offered Jose Mourinho £12million to reject the Tottenham job.
Mourinho was appointed Spurs' new boss last week following the abrupt sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.
The 56-year-old had been out of work for almost a year before Spurs owner Daniel Levy moved to sign him.
But Mourinho was not short of offers in that time, and according to the Sun, his former club Madrid were willing to pay for him to wait until they sacked boss Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane's future at Madrid has been the subject of much speculation, with rumours suggesting he could face the axe before the end of the season.
Mourinho was under consideration to return to the club to replace the Frenchman but is said to have had his heart set on a switch to Spurs.
Once the north London club made their interest known, Mourinho was happy to turn his back on approaches from elsewhere.
Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Lyon are all believed to have been keen on hiring Mourinho, while there were also lucrative opportunities in China.
Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande were reportedly prepared to fork out £40m a year after tax to get Mourinho in the hot seat.
But it was Tottenham who landed their man, and the deal is believed to have been weeks in the offing before Pochettino was eventually relieved of his duties.
Mourinho took charge of Spurs less than 12 hours after the Argentine was dismissed, and it is suggested an initial meeting was held exactly a month prior that set the ball rolling.
The Portuguese coach is said to have met super-agent Pini Zahavi in London on October 21 to discuss the role at Spurs.
He has since led his new side to three wins in his first three games as manager.
Zidane meanwhile has seemingly relieved any pressure surrounding his job, with Madrid sat top of the La Liga table and on course to progress from their Champions League group.