Jose Mourinho Denies Wanting To Leave Inter For Premier League

Inter coach Jose Mourinho has rubbished claims that he is ready for a Premier League return and is unhappy with the English press for making such a suggestion.

Mourinho was quoted as saying by The Times that "my football is English football" and that "I am ready for the next phase of my career", giving rise to the belief that he was looking to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

However, he has denied making these statements to the British newspaper, explaining that they were extracted and manipulated from a book dedicated to Ferguson. It is not the first time a British newspaper has taken comments out of context and manipulated them into a sensational-sounding story.

"I met the journalist Patrick Barclay [the author of the article] some time ago to give my interview for a book dedicated to Sir Alex Ferguson," Mourinho told Inter's official website.

"I didn't talk about current events with this journalist, but exclusively on how managing in different countries has characterised my professional career.

"I underlined the historical and cultural differences and not my personal preferences, in order to show that an experience such as Sir Alex Ferguson's with Manchester United is an extraordinary exception in our profession.

"You can also read a correct translation of my phrases in quotation marks - I said that I love Inter, that I'm enjoying Inter and that I'm working for Inter: this is the reality and I will live as such until the end of the contract that binds me to the club.

"I'm very sorry that a sincere tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson has been used in fragments to provide information in such a different way that it required my intervention."

Anthony Wright, Goal.com