Jose Mourinho nearly signed Liverpool deal in 2004 before Chelsea swooped in: Report

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has managed some of the biggest clubs in the world. These include Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Porto and Manchester United, achieving immense success. However, he was set to join Liverpool in 2004, a new book has revealed.

Also Read | Jose Mourinho demands Tottenham to re-sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho almost joined Liverpool before Chelsea job

French journalist Nicola Vilas has authored a book called Mourinho: Behind The Special One, From The Origin Of The Glory. It is claimed in the book that Mourinho’s advisor Jorge Baidek had a meeting at the Porto team’s hotel in April 2004. The manager's advisor claims that Mourinho almost joined Liverpool back then.

Baidek claims that Rick Parry, the then Liverpool CEO, was in charge of transfers and they had an agreement over Mourinho. Liverpool asked Mourinho to wait for 15 days as Gerard Houllier was still the club manager. He claims that the Portuguese tactician was all set to join the Anfield side before Chelsea swooped in.

Also Read | Andriy Shevchenko chose Chelsea because his wife wanted their kids to learn English

Liverpool chose Benitez over Jose Mourinho

Several former Liverpool stars had also earlier revealed that Jose Mourinho was the frontrunner for the top job at Anfield. However, their version is comparatively different from the one presented in the book. In 2016, Danny Murphy said that Mourinho and Rafael Benitez were in the race to join Liverpool before Benitez’s appointment was confirmed.

Former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho desperately wanted Liverpool job

Murphy revealed that Jose Mourinho wanted the job desperately. However, Liverpool signed Benitez because he had just won the LaLiga title and UEFA Cup with Valencia. Murphy claimed that he was upset at Benitez’s appointment as he didn’t want him at the club.

Also Read | Chelsea to pay April wages of non-playing staff despite coronavirus lockdown in UK

Jose Mourinho's conduct led to Liverpool job loss

Earlier, former Liverpool captain James Carragher revealed that the club was keeping the players informed that they were considering either of Jose Mourinho or Benitez. There was a general feeling that Mourinho couldn’t be the Liverpool manager because of the way he conducted himself at times.

Also Read | Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema remembers 'BBC' partnership with Ronaldo, Bale