West Ham United manager news as £8.75m Jose Mourinho update emerges amid David Moyes speculation
Jose Mourinho was offered nearly £4million over what David Moyes is paid to become the new West Ham boss, but turned it down, according to La Roma 24.
The same outlet had reported a “notable” offer from the London Stadium to the Special One back on 6 March, although the Portuguese has opted to stay at the Stadio Olimpico.
But amid ongoing doubts over how long Moyes is set to stay at the club after a major regression from last season to this, it has now emerged that a three-year deal was put on the table worth around €10million-a-season [£8.75million].
According to The Sun at the start of the season (8 October) Moyes’ contract is worth £5million-a-year, making him the joint-ninth highest paid in the top flight at the time.
But with three of the top five earners since sacked with both Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers removed from their jobs at Chelsea and Leicester respectively on Sunday (2 April), following Tottenham’s Antonio Conte, the offer to Mourinho would have made him the fourth-highest paid in the league.
Only Man City’s Pep Guardiola, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, and Manchester United’s Erik Ten Hag are reported to currently be on bigger deals.
If only
It is probably too late to wish for a change like that now it has reached this stage of the season but a switch between Moyes and Mourinho would certainly have livened things up at West Ham.
The win over Southampton on Sunday has improved the situation, and a result against Newcastle on Wednesday night (5 April) would increase confidence of staying up.
But while the former Chelsea and Spurs boss isn’t the force he once was, there is reason to imagine he might fit with the Irons.
A large, ambitious club, outside the current elite but willing to spend big money on players is arguably his sweet spot, more than all-time powerhouses like Real Madrid.
And if the offer reported is true then perhaps the board have been doing more than twiddling their thumbs while Moyes blunders through the relegation battle.
The Scot clearly deserves great praise for what he has done in Stratford since returning to the club, but even if he does manage to stay up this season there is almost nothing to look back on this season positively in a domestic sense, and only winning the Europa Conference League is likely to provide any enduring happy memories.