This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
Jose Mourinho's appointment as Tottenham's new boss has sparked speculation about his previous job offers. According to reports, Real Madrid allegedly offered him £12 million to reject the Tottenham job.
Mourinho was appointed Spurs' new boss last week following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino. The 56-year-old had been out of work for almost a year before Spurs owner Daniel Levy moved to sign him.
However, Mourinho was not short of offers in that time. His former club Madrid were reportedly willing to pay him to wait until they sacked boss Zinedine Zidane, whose future at the club has been the subject of much speculation.
But Mourinho had his heart set on a switch to Spurs, and once the north London club made their interest known, he was happy to turn his back on approaches from elsewhere.
Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, and Lyon are all believed to have been keen on hiring Mourinho, while there were also lucrative opportunities in China. Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande were reportedly prepared to fork out £40m a year after tax to get Mourinho in the hot seat.
Despite these offers, Mourinho took charge of Spurs less than 12 hours after Pochettino was dismissed, and it is suggested an initial meeting was held exactly a month prior that set the ball rolling.
