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Jose Mourinho says he has ‘zero interest’ in signing Romelu Lukaku or any other players he managed at Roma for his new club Fenerbahce.
Mourinho, 61, was unveiled as the new manager of Turkish Super Lig club Fenerbahce over the weekend in front of thousands of adoring fans at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul.
The legendary manager replaces Ismail Kartal in the Fenerbahce hot-seat and takes over a side who finished second last season behind city rivals Galatasaray despite losing just once and amassing 99 points.
Mourinho is expected to bolster his squad with several new signings this summer but insists he will not look at his former club Roma for reinforcements.
The Portuguese spent two-and-a-half seasons in charge of the Serie A club, guiding them to their first ever European trophy as they won the Europa Conference League in 2022 before losing the Europa League final a year later.
Reports have said Mourinho will try to bring Lukaku to Turkey, having managed the Belgian striker at Roma, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Lukaku is still contracted to Chelsea following his £97.5m move to Stamford Bridge in 2021 but has spent the last two seasons in Italy and both the club and the player are seeking a permanent transfer ahead of the summer transfer window.
But the 31-year-old will not be reuniting with Mourinho, with the new Fenerbahce boss insisting he has no interest in signing Lukaku or any other of his former Roma players.
‘Names of my previous players, previous club, I want to make it 100 percent my word,’ Mourinho said at his first Fenerbahce press conference. ‘I have zero interest in every player or any player from AS Roma, zero interest.
‘It’s not the time to rush. Not time to feel emotions. It is time to come and to make the things right which is what we try to do.’
On reports suggesting he had already contacted some of his former players about joining him at Fenerbahce, Mourinho added: ‘Lots of rumours always when I’m in any club.
‘I understand Fenerbahce is not different, the truth is that I have never spoke about one single player for a possible transfer market.
‘Everything is about project, everything about the stability I want to find now we move a bit in direct of profiles that we need, to improve the team. Not at all ever have I spoken about a name with anyone.’
Reflecting on his first few days at Fenerbahce and outlining his ambitions at the club, Mourinho said: ‘I am thanking every Fenerbahce supporter that came here yesterday, even the ones from home that were celebrating the fact I joined the club. I want to thank them all.
‘I used to joke and say many times I am Jose Mourinho, I want to say now, I am Fenerbahce coach.
‘The ambition is to play to win. Ambition is to feel the heat. Ambition is to feel the pressure of, you have to win every match if you want to be champion.
‘This is the reality of Fenerbahce. For me it means ambition. They have a project as a club now I say we have a project as a club.
‘Our fans have their dreams and that for me to accept it means ambition, it means I’m not in my comfort zone. If I could start training tomorrow and if I could play next weekend especially here I’d start tomorrow and play at the weekend I would.
‘The project had an impact on me, now is my time to have an impact on the project.
‘No promises but it’s obvious that the main target, the main dream is to win the Turkish Super Lig, having the upmost respect to clubs that won in previous years. We want to fight for that – it’s our main target.’
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