'Eighth or ninth is not for me' - Mourinho cold on Newcastle links

London, June 26: Jose Mourinho gave a clear indication that the vacant manager's position at Newcastle United would not appeal to him, saying that taking charge of a club where the objective is to stay in the top half of the table not in his nature.

The Magpies are searching for a new manager following the failure to agree a deal with Rafael Benitez, whose three-year spell at the club is set to end when his contract expires on Sunday.

Mourinho has been without a job in football since he left Manchester United in December 2018 and was linked with the vacancy at St. James' Park.

But in an interview with The Coaches' Voice he gave a clear description of the kind of job he does not want to take on.

"The only thing I know is what I don't want," said Mourinho.

"What I don't want is crystal clear. I am quite pathalogical in the sense that I have to play to win. Then, if I win or if I don't win, that's my problem and the players and the club and the structure. But I need a project where the feeling is I play to win.

"If someone gives me a wonderful, amazing 10-year contract and says the objective of the team is to stay in the first part of the table, and if you finish seventh or eighth or ninth it's perfect, that's not for me. That's not my nature.

"It's not me. My next is to fight to win."

Mourinho was linked with Juventus before the Italian champions appointed Maurizio Sarri as their new head coach, and the former Inter and Porto boss said he is open to working in a new setting when he takes his next job.

He offered a reminder of his unparalleled success as a manager in Europe's top leagues, while hinting that a role in charge of a national team is not out of the question.

"I'm quite flexible to adapt," said Mourinho. "I'm quite flexible to sometimes go against my own ideas and choose the right way to succeed.

"I am until now the only manager that won the league in England, Italy and Spain. You need that flexibility, that control of the environment. You need to adapt to the reality of the club, of the competition, even socially you need to understand the needs, the aims, the motivations of everyone.

"That's why I say that I'm really rich with this kind of experience – that's why I don't close the door to a new country, to a new competition because I've always liked this feeling of the unknown and this feeling: can I win?"