Jose Mourinho turned down England manager's job with contract offer 'on the table'

Jose Mourinho has revealed that he was once offered the chance to become England manager but turned it down.

The legendary former Chelsea and Tottenham boss spilt the beans on Rio Ferdinand's Vibe With Five podcast, confirming that he once had a contract offer to become Three Lions chief as well as knocking back the opportunity to manage his own Portuguese national team.

The 61-year-old is currently without a club after recently being relieved of his duties by AS Roma in Italy, but he left podcast host Ferdinand in shock after sharing the background of his England offer.

«I refused great working opportunities,» Mourinho said, adding that it was hard to turn down the chance to coach Portugal's national team. «Also yours,» he then added, whilst pointing at former England centre-back Ferdinand who reacted by saying: «No way!»

In a snippet of the forthcoming show, Mourinho appeared to explain his refusal by saying: «I gave my heart. I gave even options that could be considered not very clever by the professional point of view.» The full interview, where Mourinho discusses his time at Manchester United, is set to be released later today (February 15).

Reports have previously suggested that he was on the verge of becoming England's manager in 2007. This was shortly after his departure from Chelsea and after Steve McClaren had just been sacked for failing to qualify for Euro 2008. Instead, Mourinho went onto coach Serie A side Inter Milan, winning the Serie A title twice and the Champions League before switching to La Liga giants Real Madrid with whom he won one Spanish league title.

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