The owners of the Serie A team, AS Roma, announced on Tuesday that they had parted ways with manager Jose Mourinho, stating that the decision was made with the “best interests” of the squad in mind.
The club released a statement saying, “AS Roma can confirm that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff will leave the club with immediate effect.” “Further updates on the new first team coaching staff will follow imminently.”
After a 3-1 loss to AC Milan, Roma, now tenth in the league, trailed Inter Milan by 22 points. The team is still dealing with injuries, including the absence of forward Paulo Dybala, according to Sky News.
Roma has only won four of their previous five league games, and last week’s 1-0 loss to Juventus saw them eliminated from the Coppa Italia.
In spite of his team’s recent dismal performance, Mourinho compared himself to Harry Potter, asserting that his job at the club was to elevate fan expectations for success and responding to critics as a model of professionalism.
Club owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin released a statement, saying, “We would like to thank Jose on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club.”
“Although we have wonderful memories of his time at Roma, we think that the club would benefit more from an immediate transition. We hope the best for Jose’s and his assistants’ further endeavors.”
Mourinho was named Roma’s coach in 2021. He was formerly the head coach of several elite European teams, including Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and Manchester United.
Roma advanced to the Europa League final in 2023 and won the Europa Conference League, the third division, in 2022 under his direction.
