Jose Mourinho: “What can I promise? Passion, real passion”

Passion. That’s the key word from Jose Mourinho as we open a new chapter both at the Club and in his extraordinary career.

Jose was named our new Head Coach this morning. One of the most successful managers of all-time – 25 senior trophies including three Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues – Jose has signed a contract until the end of the 2022/23 season.

Speaking to us exclusively at Hotspur Way, Jose gave us his initial thoughts on joining Spurs, the squad and targets for the rest of the season.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier and look forward to the challenge. What can I promise? Passion, real passion. Passion for my job, but also passion for my Club, that’s the way I have been all my career and I want to try, obviously, everything to bring happiness to everyone who loves the Club.”

Asked about his excitement at working with our squad, Jose told us: “It’s a privilege when a manager goes to a club and feels that happiness in relation to the squad he is going to have.

“It didn’t happen many times. To be honest, the majority of the times we go to clubs and we always think ‘we like some, I don’t like enough’ and you think immediately about what to do to change, what to do to make an approach between your ideas and the profile of the players.

“This is a completely different case, and these are not words of the moment, they are not words of me being the Tottenham Head Coach, these are words that I told and repeated in the last three, four, five years, even as an opponent.

“I always told about the club’s potential, I always told about the qualities of the players, I always told about the magnificent work the club was doing to keep all the good players that the majority of the big clubs in Europe would be looking for.

“I really like this squad. Of course, I’m not going to say names, I’m not going to tell you individuals because this is completely against my concept of what a team has to be, but I like a lot the ability of the squad.

"There is not one manager in the world who does not like to play young players and help young players to evolve, there is not one. The problem is sometimes you get into clubs and the work that is below you is not good enough to produce these players, but when you have them, the managers are always happy to develop these players, so I look to our history and you see that the Academy is always giving the talent the first team needs. Of course, I also look forward to work with that profile."

As he pointed out, Jose has spoken positively about the Club for some time. “To play against Tottenham at White Hart Lane was always hard, but beautiful, one of the places I used to go with passion but also with respect.

"Good players, good style of play was something the Club developed in the past decade so it’s true, even as an opponent, there was always huge respect between me and the Club. I met you in cup finals, in semi-finals, in big matches and to keep that respect was probably in the back of my mind that one day I could be one of you!”

Our world-class training facility and stadium are now both home for Jose, and he added: “I think you are too humble when you say, ‘beautiful stadium’, too humble. You have to say the best stadium in the world. That’s the reality.

“The training ground is second to none. It probably can only be compared with some American Football training grounds. You cannot compare it with European football at any level, and I’ve been in the majority of the best places. It’s impossible to compare, the same with the stadium. It’s something that has to make us all very proud, but not just that, the conditions we have to work in are absolutely amazing.”