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Mourinho reiterates desire to return to England

Adrian Curtis,Pa
Tuesday 16 March 2010 11:42 GMT
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Jose Mourinho has put English football's big-spending clubs on alert after admitting he still wants to manage in the Barclays Premier League.

The self-proclaimed 'Special One' won every domestic honour during his time as manager of the Blues including back-to-back Premier League titles.

But he was sacked in September 2007 after his relationship with the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich suffered an irreparable breakdown.

Mourinho has so far been linked with moves to Manchester City, Liverpool and even Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor, and the Portuguese made it clear he plans to return to English football as part of his future career path.

"I have, as I said before, three things to do in my career - one is to come back to English football; another thing is to win the Spanish championship, because no one has won Italian, English and Spanish titles; and another one, when I'm old, is to coach my national team. But, for now, I would like to keep winning with Inter."

The Italian media are gunning for Mourinho after he left striker Mario Balotelli out of his squad for the shock defeat by Catania on Friday night.

The two are believed to have had an argument after the previous game against Genoa when Balotelli claimed he had a fever, which prompted him to be sick at half-time.

He has now been left out of the squad for the clash with Chelsea and Mourinho was clearly on the defensive.

"I don't want to talk about him," said Mourinho. "He won't be here. He won't be at the match.

"I can explain why I called up the other 20 players. It's more important to talk about the players who will be there tomorrow, not those that are not."

And then there is the German referee Wolfgang Stark - an official with history where Inter are concerned.

"We were talking about the referee, but we know that Inter lost against Arsenal, Valencia and Manchester United with this referee," said Mourinho.

"But I don't believe in bad luck. What's more important is to have a good performance."

Mourinho insists there will be no sensational celebrations if his Inter side end Chelsea's Champions League dream for another season.

Inter lead 2-1 from the first leg of the last-16 tie in the San Siro and while Mourinho insists that he will love everyone at Chelsea before and after the game, for 90 minutes he will be alone.

"My celebrations will be restrained if we win out of respect. Because it's Chelsea. Because it's the team where I worked for three and a half years, the same people, the same players, the same supporters who made me feel incredible every time we played in this stadium.

"Tomorrow, during the 90 minutes, I will give everything to try and help my team win. Players win matches on the pitch. Coaches just try and give a bit of help.

"For 90 minutes I will know nobody. Before the game I know everybody and I love them, and after the game I know everybody and I love them. But for 90 minutes I know nobody."

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