Mourinho the man for me, insists Kenyon

PETER Kenyon has revealed Jose Mourinho would be his ‘first thought’ if he was put in charge of a ‘great club’ which needed a new manager after previously attempting to raise the funds required to buy Newcastle United.

News of the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive’s interest in forming a consortium to take over the Magpies broke a year ago and Mike Ashley revealed he was ‘closer than ever’ to selling the club in December.

While a leaked letter Kenyon wrote to Ashley before Christmas revealed the pair ‘shared’ a serious determination to finalise the agreement’, and acknowledged the Newcastle owner saw Kenyon’s investor group as the ‘best fit’, a takeover never materialised.

Kenyon has not spoken in public about the takeover bid but when asked whether Mourinho was an outdated football manager, the 65-year-old jumped to his former colleague’s defence.

He said: “If you put me in charge of a great club and you needed to appoint a manager, my first thought would be Jose Mourinho.

“He is intelligent, relevant and has vast experience. He is not outdated.

“I just think he needs the right club. I am sure you will see Mourinho be a part of a great club again.

“The key is give him the adequate structure and organisation to make sure he is a part of everything.

“I was the first to express my disappointment when he left Manchester United because I think he could have been a part of that great leadership structure.

“No one better than him knows what Manchester United represents.

“Jose is far from being an irrelevant and outdated manager.”