Jose Mourinho linked with surprise return to the Premier League | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho will eye the Newcastle United job if current manager Eddie Howe departs as he plots a sensational return to the Premier League, a new report has claimed.

After winning the Champions League with Porto, Mourinho led Chelsea to three Premier League title triumphs across two separate spells and later took charge of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

He currently manages Fenerbahce but recently heavily hinted at his dissatisfaction with life in Turkey, launching an extraordinary eight-minute tirade against referees and alleged corruption in the Super Lig.

The Guardian report that the 61-year-old has identified the Newcastle job as his best opportunity to work in the Premier League again and has reached out to intermediaries to communicate his interest.

Howe and Mourinho have squared off in the Premier League before / Michael Steele/GettyImages

After leading the Magpies to a Champions League place for the first time since 2002/03, Howe's squad struggled with injuries in 2023/24 and only finished seventh. The former Bournemouth boss is not understood to be under significant pressure, with their recent victory over Arsenal lifting them up to 11th after a five-game winless streak in England's top flight. They visit in-form Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Howe said: "It feels good to still be here. I'm so pleased with how it's going, so pleased to be in this position and still dreaming.

"I'm happy with the progress but you always want more and we haven't got the one thing we wanted when we came in which was a trophy. That was the dream, that's still the dream and still driving us.

"We believe we can achieve extraordinary things and that's the focal point driving us every day. Qualifying for Europe again is one of our aims this season."