Jose Mourinho says he will give Mauricio Pochettino more time to process his departure from Tottenham before reaching out, though has spoken to his son who plays in Spurs’ academy.
Pochettino’s five-and-a-half-year reign in north London came to an end last week and Mourinho was swiftly brought in as his replacement, winning his first match in charge at West Ham on Saturday.
At his first press conference, Mourinho said his predecessor would be welcome back at Spurs anytime and, while he is yet to speak to Pochettino, has spoken with his son, Maurizio, who plays for the Under-23 side.
Asked if he had reached out to Pochettino, Mourinho said: ‘I didn’t because I know what he’s feeling. I’ve been there and I know that there is a period where the best thing for us sometimes is to process our feelings, to process what happened with us.
‘And then, in a couple of weeks – depends two, three weeks – I think then we are open again to the world. We are open again to embrace a different period in our lives. So I want to respect that and give that feeling to him.
‘I spoke with his son, who is a player in our youth categories, and I think through his boy he can understand my feelings too. And of course I will call him. But I want to let him process.
‘I also told the players in contact with him to make him feel completely free to come here any time he wants.
‘If he wants to come for a training session, great. If he wants to come for a dinner in the lodge with the boys, perfect. If he wants me to be here, I will. If he doesn’t want me to be, and he just wants to be with the boys, let’s do that way.
‘I just want him to feel that this house belongs to him. Five-and-a-half years in football now is long, long time. So he must feel completely free to do as he feels in relation to the players and the staff and the club.’
Mourinho was speaking on Monday afternoon as he gets his Spurs side ready to face Olympiacos in the Champions League tomorrow night, with a victory securing their place in the knockout stages.
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