Jose Mourinho Dismisses Chance of Managerial Return to Serie A

Jose Mourinho has ruled himself out of a managerial return to Serie A after the former Inter Milan and Manchester United manager said he doesn't think his future is in Italy. 

Mourinho, 56, has been out of a job since he was sacked by United in December 2018. The Portuguese recently appeared on Tiki Taka (h/t Yahoo! Sport) and said: "My future? I don't think it will be in Italy."

The tactician has worked as a Sky Sports pundit and started a season without a club for the first time since he began his senior managerial career almost 20 years ago.

The former Real Madrid coach has previously spoken of his ambitions to win league titles in some of Europe's most respected divisions, per the Spanish Football Podcast:

Following two Premier League titles at Chelsea, Mourinho won back-to-back Scudetti with Inter in 2009-10 but left the San Siro after two years at the club to take over at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, where he won one La Liga title.

His reputation has fallen since then, however, after he was fired by Chelsea and United in each of his last two positions.

Mourinho also spoke about his separation from Inter after winning the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League as part of a European and domestic treble, reiterating his strong relationship with those at the San Siro:

"Inter is my home, my family. (Massimo] Moratti) is a friend, my president. The story of the treble was fantastic. 

"After [the final in] Madrid, if I returned to San Siro to celebrate, I would never leave Inter. When you say goodbye to a family it's a hard thing to deal with. 

"That night I already knew I was leaving, I couldn't say no to Real Madrid for the third time."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the current manager in charge of United, but Bill Rice of BBC Radio Manchester pointed to evidence suggesting the Norwegian hasn't been as reliable in producing results:

Mourinho has also built a reputation for clashing with certain personalities in his squads, something United defender Victor Lindelof recently touched upon during an interview with Sky Sports:

There are only a select few teams in Italy that would likely have the necessary reputation and resources to lure Mourinho back to Serie A.

Former employers Inter currently lead the league and are managed by Antonio Conte, Juventus have fellow Chelsea alumnus Maurizio Sarri at the helm and Napoli look content with Carlo Ancelotti. AS Roma and AC Milan are managed by Paulo Fonseca and Marco Giampaolo, respectively, but look less settled.

Mourinho made history during his treble-winning season at Inter, and it appears highly unlikely "The Special One" will risk tarnishing his reputation in Italy with a return.