PSG call could set up very awkward reunion between Messi and Mourinho

17 February 2023 , 21:14

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PSG call could set up very awkward reunion between Messi and Mourinho

PSG sporting director Luis Campos has contacted Jose Mourinho about potentially taking over at the Parc des Princes, according to reports.

The Parisians have endured a difficult start to 2023 with their latest defeat coming against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Christophe Galtier, who was hired in the summer, has been unable to get the desired results and is coming under increased pressure.

He's been given a period of time to oversee an upturn in results, but if he fails to do so Mourinho could be PSG's answer. That would mean the Special One teaming up with Lionel Messi for the first time in his career having previously said Cristiano Ronaldo is the better player.

Mourinho coached the Portuguese star for three years whilst he was in charge at Los Blancos and told A Bola in 2012: "If Messi is the best on the planet, Ronaldo is the best in the universe."

When he said those comments Messi was the current Ballon d'Or holder having won four Golden Balls on the trot. The debate has raged on for well over a decade, although the Argentine has set himself apart by winning two more Ballon d'Ors as well as the World Cup.

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Messi is into his second season in the French capital, following his switch from Barcelona. PSG claimed the Ligue 1 title last term, but underachieved given the quality in their squad. This season they are facing similar issues having lost five times this calendar year.

Mourinho is currently in charge at Roma, guiding them to the Europa Conference League in his debut year last season. The Special One is looking to guide them in the Champions League and currently has them sat fourth - but the battle for the top four in Serie A is hotly contested at present.

Jose Mourinho is on PSG's radar (Getty Images)

He has enjoyed huge success across Europe however. Throughout his managerial career he's won league titles in Portugal, Spain, England and Italy. France is a league in which the 60-year-old is yet to work but a move to Paris would present him with another title shot.

Mourinho has previously been outspoken on the PSG project - labelling it a "failure". He told DAZN : "I think it is a failure that they didn't win it in the two seasons before because for five or six years the investment is crazy, the list of top players that is there is incredible.

"For how many seasons Thiago Silva is there, Marquinhos is there, and then all the big guys, Ibra [ Zlatan Ibrahimovic ], [Edinson] Cavani, Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappe. It's, of course, their dream and for the first time they arrive in this kind of situation and this is the kind of game where these guys normally flourish, even if I think that as a team they are nothing from another world, these are players from another world."

Samuel Meade