Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho could be set for an unlikely reunion after the Special One was offered the chance to join him in Saudi Arabia.
The two Portuguese legends have enjoyed and endured a combustible relationship over the years, with their Premier League arrivals separated by only 12 months. And while Ronaldo was breaking records on the pitch with Manchester United, Mourinho was doing the same from the Chelsea dugout.
Their respective moves to Real Madrid were also separated by just one season, with the two linking up to devastating effect in the Spanish capital. It wasn’t all happy sailing at the Bernabeu however and the compatriots would routinely clash.
Following a Champions League defeat to Barcelona in Mourinho’s first season, Ronaldo was asked whether he agreed with his methods. “I don't but I have to adapt to what is asked of me. This is the way it is. We have a strategy."
And more than a decade on from that frosty post-match interview, the two could be reunited. Corriere dello Sport via Record report that Mourinho has been offered a whopping £100million to go to Saudi for two seasons.
They claim he will have his choice of jobs in the Gulf state should he accept, including either the national team or a role with Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. Rudi Garcia is currently the man in that hotseat, but with club bosses desperate to become a global brand, who better than Mourinho in the dugout?
And Mourinho would seemingly jump at the chance of managing Ronaldo, now 38, for the second time, describing the first opportunity as the highlight of his illustrious career. "Ronaldo's an incredible player. It's like Zinedine Zidane for the French, there will be no other. He is incredible, he's a goalscoring machine,” he said in 2013.
Mourinho added: "Coaching him was the highlight of my career. He's the most professional player I've ever met. A coach and a player may have their differences at a given time, but it ends there."
And the feeling is clearly mutual, with Ronaldo placing Mourinho on the pedestal as his greatest coach - even higher than Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ronaldo said: "I would put him at the top, I always say that. I have played for so many great coaches, but Jose Mourinho was a big thinker analytically, he went into everything in great detail."
Asked about a reunion in 2018, he added: "Work with Mourinho again? Why not?”
Ronaldo made the move to Saudi at the start of this year following the very public breakdown of his relationship with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford. The veteran striker felt he was being disrespected by the new United boss and forced his exit some six months before the end of his contract.
There was a feeling among those at United that Ronaldo failed to adapt to Ten Hag’s methods and rigorous demands. But footage from the Netflix series The Playbook, hints his old - and potentially next - boss would go about it very differently.
"If you are not able to coach the big players, you are not able to coach anyone. It is very important for a coach to understand, you are not going to teach them how to play football,” he explained.
"You are not going to teach Ronaldo how to take a free-kick, you are not going to teach [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic how to hold the ball on his chest, you are not going to teach [Didier] Drogba how to attack the first post and score in the air.
"You are going to teach them how to play football, in that team."
