Jose Mourinho revealed it took him “five minutes” of a meeting with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to agree a return to Stamford Bridge after six years away.
The Portuguese coach travelled to London to complete the formalitiesof a second stint in charge of the west London club after his exit from Real Madrid was confirmed, penning a four-year deal.
Mourinho was headhunted by the Blues after guiding Porto to Champions League glory in 2004, and would lead Chelsea to successive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, before then leaving after his relationship with owner Abramovich broke down and they parted company, officially by mutual consent at the time.
Since winning the European Cup again with Inter Milan and the Spanish title in his second season in Madrid, the 50-year-old has never made any secret of a love affair with the Chelsea faithful.
Mourinho’s relationship with Abramovich has long since warmed and the Portuguese maintains it was an “easy decision” to make.
“I had to prepare myself not to be too emotional on my arrival at the club, but obviously I am very happy,” Mourinho told Chelsea TV.
“It was an easy decision. I met the boss, I met the owner and in five minutes after a couple of very short but pragmatic questions, we decided straight away.
“I asked the boss ‘do you want me back?’ and the boss asked me ‘do you want to come back?’ and in a couple of minutes, the decision was made.”
Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay insists moving to bring back the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was the only option as Chelsea looked to take the club on following the reign of interim manager Rafael Benitez, who had replaced Champions League-winning coach Roberto Di Matteo in November 2012, and after some initial difficulties guided the Blues to a third-place finish as well as winning the Europa League.
Mourinho feels with hindsight the parting of the ways back in September 2007, when he was replaced by Avram Grant, was perhaps what both needed at the time, as Chelsea have since also gone on to win the European Cup last season.
“Now we are back together and it is a great moment for both, so I think we are ready to marry again and to be happy and successful again,” he said.
Mourinho will be officially unveiled at a press conference at Stamford Bridge on June 10, and is set to bring assistant coaches Rui Faria, Silvino Louro and Jose Morais to Stamford Bridge where they will work alongside first-team staff Steve Holland, Christophe Lollichon and Chris Jones.
The new manager is expected to bring in some reinforcements ahead of the new season, with £15million-rated Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi a reported target.