Next Liverpool manager: Former captain endorses MOURINHO for Anfield hotseat

Graeme Souness has endorsed JOSE MOURINHO to become the next Liverpool manager. 

Jurgen Klopp is set to leave his post at the end of the season with no successor yet in place. 

Although Xabi Alonso was the early frontrunner, Liverpool have been left disappointed by the Spaniard’s decision to remain with Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen. 

The Reds reportedly then turned to Ruben Amorim, the Sporting CP boss who is on the cusp of winning the Liga Portugal for a second time, but events this week appear to rule the Portuguese out. 

Firstly, Amorim’s appointment was described as “unlikely” by The Athletic’s David Ornstein and then came the bombshell that the 39-year-old was flying to London in order to speak with West Ham. 

It now looks like the Anfield higher-ups will have to look elsewhere for their next coach with Feyenoord’s Arne Slot, Lille’s Paulo Fonseca and Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi among those in contention. 

At the weekend, Jose Mourinho was spotted in the stands for Liverpool’s Premier League game against Fulham at Craven Cottage. 

On Monday, the Special One granted an interview to the Telegraph, broadly interpreted as a sign he was ready to come back and coach in England. 

The 61-year-old has been out of work since being sacked by Roma in January and has claimed in recent months to have turned down the Portugal national team job, the same role in Saudi Arabia, as well as mammoth offers in the Saudi Pro League. 

Mourinho first moved to England in 2004, guiding Chelsea to two consecutive league titles, winning a third in 2015, and also coached Manchester United and Tottenham. 

Twenty years ago, Mourinho also expressed his desire to coach at Liverpool.

His appointment would be unpalatable to many supporters, following a number of high-profile spats between the manager and the Reds, but one European Cup-winning former captain sees the upside of appointing Mourinho. 

Souness says Mourinho to Liverpool ‘not impossible’

“I don’t think that would be impossible,” Souness told Simon Jordan on talkSPORT when asked whether he’d have Mourinho on Merseyside. 

“They have big shoes to fill whoever follows Jurgen. 

“But he would get that relationship with the supporters. He’s an aggressive man and confrontational. 

“The supporters of Liverpool like all of that. You can see how they love Jurgen being like that. It would not be a problem.”

Mourinho fosters a them-and-us mentality, something highlighted by Jordan when asking Souness if the former Porto boss divides people.

“Outside his own football club,” the Scot admitted. “I think where he has been successful he has taken everyone with him. He’s not interested in neutrals.”

Souness answers the question: Klopp or Mourinho?

The question of Klopp’s legacy compared to Mourinho was then put to Souness, who managed Liverpool from 1991 to 1994.

Would he classify Klopp above Mourinho?

“Higher? No,” he said. “The simplest way to answer is the trophy count at the end of the season. What Klopp has done and what Mourinho has done. I think it boils down to a trophy count at the end of it and then there might be another angle in it. 

“What cups have you won? Let’s take it down to who has won the most Premier League and Champions Leagues. That, for me, would decide things.”