Mourinho replacing Ten Hag places Man Utd with Newcastle as five Premier League return options

The die-hard members of Jose Mourinho’s dwindling fan club will have lapped his antics before, during and after Fenerbahce’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United as the former Special One took full advantage of his time back in the limelight.

In England, Mourinho has not been on the tip of football fans’ tongues for quite a while as his spells at AS Roma and Fenerbahce have kept him away from our back pages.

But this week’s reunion with Man Utd provided an intriguing narrative, especially with his rival manager reportedly ‘one match’ away from being sacked.

A draw was not the best result for Ten Hag, so the Dutchman will be thankful to Mourinho for hogging the headlines in the aftermath as sack talk can be put off until a potential slip-up for Man Utd at the London Stadium on Sunday.

As for the main man, Mourinho is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. But I love the bloke and I’m already stocked up on popcorn in preparation for his inevitable Premier League return.

So with a move back to England firmly in Mourinho’s sights, who in the Premier League will take him? Here are five potential options for his grand return…

Wolves

“The best thing I can do is to go to a team who does not play in UEFA competition. So a club at the bottom in England who needs a coach in two years, I am ready to go. I don’t want to speak any more about it.”

Mourinho’s recent jobs suggest his days of managing elite clubs are long gone, but I’m all for the prospect of witnessing him combust amid referee and VAR controversy while in the thick of a relegation battle. It would be pure cinema.

Of the teams currently in a relegation battle, Southampton’s Russell Martin and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil areamong the favourites to be the first manager sacked.

Southampton and Mourinho don’t feel like a good fit, but Wolves – mainly because of their previous links with super agent Jorge Mendes – do work.

READ: ‘Boring’ Mourinho sells newspapers again as 6-1 Spurs win caught in crossfire of delirium

Everton
Many onlookers rightly scoffed at the idea of Mourinho reportedly being a ‘strong option’ to replace under-fire Sean Dyche earlier this season.

Much is said about Mourinho’s affiliation with the Premier League, but he had just taken the Fenerbahce job and David Moyes returning to see out Everton’s final season at Goodison Park was significantly more likely.

However, Dyche has recently done Dyche things as he’s steadied the rocky Everton ship to boost the optimism among the fanbase regarding their Premier League survival chances.

In hindsight, we were foolish to ever doubt Dyche as this is what he does each year. But he remains on a tightrope, especially post-takeover as Everton’s prospective new owners potentially look to put their stamp on the team by appointing a new manager with a fresh perspective.

Like Dyche, Mourinho’s typical style of football is hardly inspiring. But he is still a huge name and this could attract him to the owners as they eye immediate success.

Nottingham Forest
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been a pleasant surprise this season as they have impressively only lost one of their opening nine Premier League games.

Bucking the trend set by other recently promoted sides, Forest – admittedly with the help of huge investment – are managing to stabilise in the Premier League.

But plenty of football fans/clubs are guilty of being greedy and Forest could easily succumb to this trait in pursuit of grander goals should their enigmatic owner Evangelos Marinakis get bored.

Given the club’s history, you could easily see Mourinho being attracted to managing Forest in the future. Also, the owner-manager relationship between himself and Marinakis would be a car crash that every streaming service should be breaking the bank to cover in a documentary.

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Newcastle United
As much as certain Newcastle supporters will hate this, Mourinho being appointed at St James’ Park still feels inevitable.

Eddie Howe deserves credit for the great job he’s done in the aftermath of PIF’s takeover, which could won’t lead to the club being ‘expelled’ from the Premier League.

But the constant rumblings of discontent with sporting director Paul Mitchell and Newcastle’s underwhelming start to the 2024/25 season make it feel that Howe is gradually reaching the end of his tether.

Howe’s Newcastle role was likely to be transitional from the moment of his arrival and recent developments have not altered this thinking.

Profit and Sustainability rules are delaying Newcastle’s progress, but their gatecrash of the elite is still inevitable and PIF will likely seek out a proven winner to get them there. There is another debate to be had over whether Mourinho would be up for a job of this magnitude, but we are likely to find out regardless.

READ: Mourinho struts his stuff as careless, careworn Man United reach a year without a European win

Manchester United
Mourinho’s stance on a ‘sensational return’ to Man Utd has already been made clear and he certainly did not burn any bridges with his comments about his former club this week. If anything, he was too complimentary…

Man Utd’s managerial situation has been a mess for months and matters recently were made worse as INEOS ‘missed the boat’ with the outstanding Ten Hag replacement candidate.

Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a way to go if he’s to restore the great Man Utd feeling as it’s currently hard to blame managers for turning their noses up at the prospect of replacing Ten Hag.

Had willing quality replacement options been available, Ten Hag would have been replaced in the summer. However, Ratcliffe’s hand will be forced if there is not a sudden improvement in results/performances and Mourinho would be one of very few ‘elite’ managers willing to take on the burden of managing Man Utd.