Football

What Jose Mourinho did when Andy Murray asked him to replace Arsenal boss Unai Emery


The Gunners are not looking for a new man but current boss Unai Emery came under pressure at times last season as Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League through their league position and then lost the Europa League final against Chelsea.

Mourinho, meanwhile, has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United last December.

And tennis star Murray – who follows both Arsenal and Hibernian – revealed he had some time with Mourinho who was in attendance at Queen’s Club Championships to watch him play in the doubles on Saturday.

“Well, I mean, I chatted with him a little bit,” the Scot said after he and Feliciano Lopez had booked their place in the men’s doubles final.

“I was literally about to start practicing, but I met him a couple of times before.

“He loves his tennis. And, yeah, he obviously, you know, knows what it’s like to sort of stay at the top of a sport for a very, very long time.”

Smiling, Murray continued: “Yeah, he just wished me well. [He] was asking a bit about my hip and I asked him what he was up to, [to] try and see if he was going to come to Arsenal or Hibs. But, yeah, wasn’t giving anything away.”

Mourinho and Murray appear to have a lot of mutual respect for each other as the Portuguese waxed lyrical about the three-time Grand Slam champion when he was quizzed by reporters while at Queen’s.

Murray is currently only playing doubles tournaments as he recovers from a hip injury but Mourinho hopes to see him back at the top of the game again.

“It has been hard. Of course, with his age, with his history, with everything he has already won, he needs to be really special, in love with the game, and ready to make the effort he is making to be back,” he said.

“If he can evolve to play singles again at the highest level that would be amazing.”

Mourinho also recalled watching Murray win his first Wimbledon title back in 2013.

“I shed tears when Murray won Wimbledon first time,” he added.

“Because for these boys, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, these big tournaments are like the Champions League for us.

“We know what we feel when we do it, we know what we feel when we almost do it but don’t do it, and so I could imagine what it meant for him.

“It’s not just Wimbledon, it’s in London, the city where he lives, with all the meaning for the whole of the UK.

“I could imagine being in his skin, and understand all the feelings that he went through.

“So yes, I was a little more emotional than normal when he won.”



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.