"NO WAY JOSE!" Mourinho revelas tearful call with Ferguson after going back on Man Utd agreement and Abramovich fury that followed
Jose Mourinho cried on the phone to Sir Alex Ferguson as he confirmed his decision to not replace him at Manchester United. Instead, he ended up returning to Chelsea despite seeing his relationship with Roman Abramovich fall apart during his first Stamford Bridge stint.
Those are just some of the bombshell reveals made in the new Netflix docuseries, 'Mourinho', which airs on Tuesday. The show is set to drop just as 'The Special One' prepares for an even more audacious comeback at Real Madrid, 13 years after he left on terrible terms.
Mourinho, 63, was public enemy No. 1 when he first left Los Blancos in 2013, having lost the support of his dressing room and the media. That same summer, he had agreed to take over at Old Trafford when Ferguson retired - before backing out of the deal.
"He was offered the job, yes," said Ferguson. "I sat him down and explained the situation and, as far as I was concerned, he was accepting. And then, within hours, had changed."
Mourinho recalled: "I was, of course, very flattered, because Man United has an incredible appeal. When I say Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world, I have to say that Man United is very, very close.
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"But one thing is love for football, and another thing is love for a certain club. I think this is more powerful than love for football. And fundamentally, after Real Madrid, I needed to feel I am loved."
Ferguson didn't hide his disappointment that the move never came to pass, especially after they had a tentative agreement in place. But it wasn't a choice that came easily to Mourinho, who became tearful as he informed a peer he respects so much of his decision.
"Early evening, he phoned me and he was crying," Ferguson continued. "And he says, 'Alex, I can't take it. I've given my word to Chelsea and I'm not gonna break my word'. The reason he gave to me, I could understand. But I was disappointed."
Regardless, Mourinho said he harboured no regret over his choice as he clarified: "For me to lose the chance to be the coach to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson was...dramatic. But I don't regret [it], because it was a decision I made with my heart."

He ultimately rejoined Chelsea, which was a peculiar decision in itself given his chequered history with the club. Or more specifically former owner Abramovich, who was the focus of his ire when he returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time in the opposition dugout.
Inter Milan's visit to Chelsea in the Champions League's last 16 back in 2010 was the first time Mourinho faced his old team as an enemy. And the nature of his fallout with Abramovich a little more than two years prior made things all too personal.
"Honestly, I was playing against Roman in that game," said Mourinho as he remembered that run-in with his former boss. "I was not playing against Chelsea. I was not playing against the boys. I was playing against him."

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It's ironic that it was Samuel Eto'o who scored the goal that separated the two teams in that second leg and sent Inter through. Mourinho wanted the Cameroonian when he was at Chelsea, only for Abramovich to take the reins and complete a deal for infamous flop Andriy Shevchenko instead.
"That game for me was beauty," Mourinho continued. "I was playing against a guy that sacked me. It felt like pleasure.
"I go home happy and he goes upset, because I know how much he loves Chelsea, I know how much he loves to win. But I needed revenge. Because football belongs to people like me. The other ones are the intruders who don't belong.
"Football belongs to the players, belongs to the coaches, belongs to the fans. Football will always belong to us."

There's more than a hint of resentment in those words. It's painstakingly obvious throughout the Netflix series that Mourinho is all-consumed by football but views some of those more accustomed to dealing in boardrooms as little more than interlopers.
The tactician repaired his relationship with Abramovich enough that he returned to Chelsea for a second spell and even won a third Premier League title at the club. It wasn't long, however, before things came crashing down once more and ended with another premature exit.
Mourinho is targeting another redemption arc in a glittering career as he returns to the Bernabeu this summer. And in Florentino Perez, he has another volatile chairman figure he needs to keep onside if this chapter is to be any more successful than the first.