Jose Mourinho: I Am One of the Greatest Ever

During his reign at Chelsea, no one could find him short of confidence.

And eight months away from the spotlight have done little to dent the former manager's raging self-confidence.

Writing in the apparently aptly titled Jose Mourinho—Born Winner book, the double Premier League winner claims that neither Arsene Wenger nor Alex Ferguson, the longest-serving and many would argue the most successful managerial duo in the Premier League, can claim to be better than him.

"The English like statistics a lot, numbers, especially number 100. It's a fascinating number, for example games as manager in the Premier League," writes the self-described Special One. "Do they know that the percentage of wins by Arsene Wenger in the English league is 50 per cent? And that Alex Ferguson, in the same number of games, barely managed to achieve three points in half of them?

"And my Chelsea beat those numbers completely, reaching well over 70 league wins, winning two championships in a row without blinking and leaving the directors of the Premier League on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Does that make me a better manager than Wenger or Ferguson? No. But I also don't think it makes me a worse manager than them."

"Perhaps I won too soon. I felt, at times, that I was the victim of my own success, that the victories in championships and cups have a special meaning in my career, but perhaps came too early," Mourinho added that money alone could never deliver results.

He was also keen to point out that in his short though eventful time at Chelsea he wasted no time in securing an unparalleled level of success for the club. This, he said, has not been matched before or since.

"How many years did Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger take before they won their first English title? They needed five years to get there. And how many years was it necessary to wait before the English press entertained itself with discovering whether or not Wenger would be replaced at Arsenal? Ten years."

"People who say that Mourinho bought success forget the investment that Manchester United have made during many years. How much did Rio Ferdinand cost? What do those people think when it's announced that Liverpool and Rafa Benitez have got £70million to spend on signings for the season?

"They don't think about it because Liverpool haven't been champions for over ten years and it's good for business for them to become that in coming times. When Chelsea dropped points against Manchester United, for months, everyone had their right to speculate. They said that Chelsea were no longer dominant.

"In three months, without Chelsea having lost anything, they invented 14 future managers of the club to replace me. That's what I mean. In the whole history of the Premier League I was the first manager to become a champion in his first season."

The Special One insists he is no longer Chelsea boss because he was a victim of his own outstanding early success.

Owner Roman Abramovich is ready to call time on Avram Grant’s reign this summer if the Blues fail to capture any silverware.

And Mourinho has turned up the heat by reminding the billionaire Russian that even Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger struggle to match his record in England.

Guus Hiddink, Frank Rijkaard and Henk Ten Cate have all been touted as possible new managers but Mourinho does not feel anyone can measure up to him.