José Mourinho has left Serie A side Roma with immediate effect.
Mourinho's contract was up at the end of the season but, following their 3-1 loss to AC Milan on Sunday and with the club in ninth place in Serie A, the owners and coach parted ways.
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It brings to an end Mourinho's time at the club, which began in May 2021 and saw them win the Europa Conference League title in 2022 and reach the Europa League final last season.
“We would like to thank José on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club,” said owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin.
“We will always have great memories of his time at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is best for the club. We wish José and his assistants all the best in their future endeavors.”
Mourinho's three years at Roma peaked when they won the Europa Conference League title against Feyenoord in Tirana. It was his first trophy in 11 years in his first European final since 1991.
But after a tough 2023-24 season, the final straw appears to be the loss to AC Milan at the weekend. It came after a poor run of form when Roma were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by local rivals Lazio on January 10, and had just one win in six league games. But just last week he reiterated his commitment to the club. “I've been here for two years and five months and I'm the only person here who hasn't missed a single training session in that time,” Mourinho said. “For me there are no illnesses or bad moods.
“For two and a half years I have not done anything wrong, not even a couple of weeks ago when everyone was sick. I do not accept in any way that my professionalism and my dignity, my heart for this job, can be questioned. If there is an example perfect professionalism, that's me. I have never missed a game in more than 20 years of my career.”
Mourinho joined Roma in 2021 after a career in which he managed FC Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham. He accepted the job at Roma just 15 days after being sacked by Spurs.
One of his last acts in Rome was to compare himself to Harry Potter.
“The Roma fans are the most incredible I've ever seen,” Mourinho said. “His coach is José 'Harry Potter' Mourinho and he generates expectations.”
