The Special One weighed in on LOSC's season, singling coach Christophe Galtier out for fulsome praise, while also seemingly scotching rumours that he could replace Thomas Tuchel at Paris Saint-Germain next season.
A free agent since his sacking from Manchester United in December, Jose Mourinho has been spending a fair bit of time at Ligue 1 Conforama matches in 2019, notably in Lille, with friend Luis Campos, les Dogues' sporting director.
'Man of the season'
Speculation has been rife that Mourinho is targeting a return to management in France's top flight, but short of denying links to LOSC, Mourinho heaped praise on incumbent coach Christophe Galtier, who has earned a nomination for the UNFP Trophy for Coach of the Year after taking LOSC from relegation battlers to a second-placed finishers in the space of a season.
"I dont want to say that he's the best coach, as perhaps someone else is the best per se, I don't know, but I think that he is the coach of the season," Mourinho told L'Equipe. "Taking his side to the Champions League, second on the table, with quality football while developing young talent... He is the man of the season."
Lyon, PSG links?
Even if Mourinho doesn't end up at LOSC, there is plenty of speculation linking him to other jobs in France. Olympique Lyonnais, whose coach Bruno Genesio recently announced that he would be leaving in the summer, are seen as prime candidates while others wonder whether Mourinho's European pedigree - the Portuguese has won both the Champions league and UEFA Cup/Europa League twice - could interest Paris Saint-Germain's success-hungry Qatari owners.
'Impossible'
However, the Special One would appear to have ruled that out. Or did he?
"It's impossible, as you can't coach a club that already has a coach," he explained, referring of course to former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel, who currently holds the reins at the Parc des Princes. "Paris are a club with a world-wide profile and world-class players, but they haven't won in Europe yet [nb. Paris Saint-Germain have won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1996) and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (2001)]. And that's very important. It's the same thing for coaches. You can be a quality coach but if, at the end your career, you haven't won in Europe, it's something that's really missing from your career."
