Mário Branco breaks silence on Mourinho to Benfica claim: false | OneFootball

Mário Branco, Benfica’s general director, addressed the signing of José Mourinho and categorically ruled out any possibility that the Portuguese coach had been in talks before the Champions League playoff against Fenerbahçe, then managed by Mourinho himself.

In an interview with the YouTube channel of Turkish journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, the Benfica official was clear in dismissing that possibility. “That is completely out of the question, an absolute lie. Only someone who doesn’t know me, doesn’t know Mourinho, or doesn’t know Benfica, could think such a thing. I remember speaking with Mourinho when we played the Eusébio Cup against Fenerbahçe. Then, when the draw paired us against each other, we stopped talking. We only spoke during the first leg in Istanbul and the second leg in Lisbon,” he added.

Mário Branco also explained that the process regarding the coaching change only moved forward after the European tie, assuring that there had been no prior contacts that influenced the clash between the two teams: “We eliminated Fenerbahçe. After that, Benfica’s board decided to change coaches, and José Mourinho had been available for about a month. We assessed the market, and the situation was exactly the same as what had happened at Fenerbahçe a year earlier,” he said.

The official also stressed the importance of the market opportunity represented by the Portuguese coach. “If you have Mourinho free and available, you have to consider him. I advised my president to make that decision,” he explained.

The tie ended up being decided by Kerem Aktürkoglu, a player who would later go on to join Fenerbahçe just a few days later. Mário Branco also commented on the context of that transfer, criticizing the Turkish club’s approach.

“The way Fenerbahçe approached the player was not, in my opinion, the best. Kerem was performing fantastically at Benfica. When you are at Benfica, at a big club, players are happy. But if one of the biggest clubs in Turkey comes in and offers three times the salary, it is not easy to keep the player focused,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.