Still time at Inter Miami? Jose Mourinho reveals Lionel Messi coaching dream having previously worked with Cristiano Ronaldo during spell as Real Madrid boss

Charismatic Portuguese coach Mourinho is currently out of work after being relieved of his duties at Serie A side Roma. He has ruled out an imminent move to Saudi Arabia, but is open to offers. If he were to be available the next time that Inter Miami make a change in their dugout, then an opportunity to manage Messi would present itself.

Speaking to influencer Ohm on his YouTube channel, Mourinho has said when asked to pick out the superstars he wishes he had crossed paths with: “For example, I never got to train Lionel Messi, but then nobody can train Messi. It is absurd to think you could coach him, because he was born with everything and already knows everything. He might teach you some things. All you could say is that you had the honour of having him in your squad. To stay in the Roma theme, I would’ve liked to have [Daniele] De Rossi at Inter and Real Madrid, but it was not possible. I also wanted [Francesco] Totti at Inter, despite his age at the time, but it was not possible either. These are players I always wanted in my career.”

Mourinho has worked with plenty of iconic figures, including Cristiano Ronaldo during his time in charge of Real Madrid. He has collected an enviable haul of major honours – including Premier League, Serie A and La Liga titles, along with two Champions League crowns – but said when asked to select the win that gave him most pleasure: “I have many great memories and many bad ones. If I have to choose one, I will go for the most recent. It might not be the most important trophy I have won, but considering the dimension of joy that it brought and because it was the closest, I will say the Conference League at Roma. There were many great things in my career, many fantastic games to remember, and it is impossible to choose just one or two. I also have many bad memories, such as losing two Champions League semi-finals on penalties, a Europa League Final lost on penalties because the referee had decided we could not win. There are plenty of bad memories.”

Mourinho burst onto the coaching scene at Porto and has gone on to work for Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham and Roma. He may never get his wish of sharing a training field with Messi, but history has taught us that it is foolish to write anything off when it comes to the self-anointed ‘Special One’.