‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho Cashes in as New Coach for Fenerbahce

File photo of Jose Mourinho, who has been relieved of his duties as Manager of the Manchester United football club, speaking to the media during a press conference in Valencia, Spain, on Dec. 11, 2018. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Hiring a manager with a “Special One” nickname comes at an expensive price tag.

Turkish club Fenerbahce is paying Jose Mourinho $11.4 million per year over his new, two-year deal, the team announced in a stock market declaration this week.

Now, Fenerbahce has lofty expectations for Mourinho as the leader of the club, which has not won the Süper Lig since 2014.

Mourinho does not lack confidence and has embraced his nickname because of his success as manager.

“Please don’t call me arrogant because what I am saying is true, I am a European champion,” Mourinho said at his introductory press conference for Chelsea in 2004. “I think I am a ‘Special One.’”

Later, Mourinho clarified his stance on the nickname but still felt that the moniker was apt.

“A Special One, not the Special One,” Mourinho later said about the nickname in an interview with Sky Sports in 2022. He continued: “It didn’t affect me really. I was never too worried about it, really. But with so many possible nicknames, it’s nice to have that one.”

In addition to competing in the top Turkish league, Fenerbahce also qualified for the Champions League and opens the qualifying rounds in July.

Mourinho, however, is looking at the bigger picture with coaching in Turkey. He wants to make the Süper Lig more popular in Europe, and one way to achieve that goal is to win a Champions League title.

“One of the things is, I bring attention in with me. More people in Europe will follow the Turkish league,” Mourinho said at his introductory press conference on June 3. “I’m coming to work for Turkish football, for Turkish Super Lig. But fundamentally, I come for Fenerbahce.

“My wish is that Turkish football improves at every level. But if I have to raise my voice to defend Fenerbahce, I will not think twice,” he added, in an apparent reference to the club’s complaints over what it calls “unfairness.”

Fenerbahce was founded in 1907, making it one of the oldest clubs in Europe. The club claims to have been the first winner of the Turkish National League in 1959. Overall, the club has claimed 19 league championships while also winning six Turkish Cup titles.

In addition, Fenerbahce is one of three teams to have never been relegated from the top Turkish league, along with Beşiktaş and Galatasaray, which is their top rival.

In international competitions, Fenerbahce had one of its best performances in 2013 when the club reached the semifinals of the Europa League, where the team was defeated 1–0 by Portugal side Benfica. In addition, Fenerbahce’s best showing in the Champions League was in 2008 when the club lost to Chelsea 3–2 in aggregate goals in 2008.

Mourinho is now tasked with taking the club to new heights across all competitions.

“I make zero promises [to the Fenerbahce fans] but [promise] a huge commitment, passion, work, empathy in relation to them,” Mourinho said during the June 3 press conference. “The way to express that is the way we are going to work. This shirt is going to be my skin; it’s an expression that defines my mentality and that I want everyone at the club to have. The main dream is to win the Turkish Super Lig.”

Mourinho has the pedigree and experience to make an immediate impact in Turkey.

In his native Portugal, Mourinho won Primeira Liga twice, a Taça de Portugal, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League with Porto. He then moved to Chelsea in 2004 and won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and two League Cups before departing in 2007.

Mourinho joined Italian club Inter Milan in 2008 and captured the Serie A twice, including a European treble of Serie A, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Champions League in 2010. He became one of five coaches to have won the European Cup with two clubs and was named FIFA World Coach of the Year.

Mourinho moved to Real Madrid in Spain, where he won La Liga in 2012, becoming the fifth coach to have won league titles in four countries. At the super club, he also won a Copa del Rey and a Supercopa de España.

Mourinho left Real Madrid in 2013 and rejoined Chelsea before coaching at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. In 2021, he joined Roma and won the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, which made him the first manager to win a major European competition with four clubs and the third manager to win the three main UEFA club competitions.

He was named Portuguese Coach of the Century by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015.

Mourinho looks forward to having that same success at Fenerbahce in the immediate future.

“The fans don’t need to be patient; they need to be mad; they have to be demanding. If the players cannot deal with that pressure, they don’t belong at Fenerbahce,” Mourinho said at the June 3 press conference.

He continued: “I want that passion. I want the players to trust me, to know that I am very honest, very direct, sometimes not the nicest guy, but always honest with them. I knew the social impact of this club. The project had an impact on me, and now is [the] time for me to have an impact on the project.”