Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Turkish Super Lig club Fenerbahce just six games into the new season.
The final straw for the Portuguese coach proved to be defeat to Benfica on Wednesday night, which saw Fenerbahce fail to qualify for the Champions League group phase.
A statement on Fenerbahce’s X account read: ‘Our Professional Football team has parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who has been serving as head coach since the 2024-2025 season.
‘We thank him for his efforts for our team thus far and wish him success in his future career.’
Mourinho, 62, was appointed manager at Fener in May 2024, initially signing a two-year contract at the club. However, the club’s 1-0 defeat at the Estadio da Luz has cut his tenure in Turkey short.
According to Turkish media outlet Spor Arena, Mourinho’s relationship with the Fenerbahce board has been tense during the summer transfer window, with the former Manchester United boss criticising the club’s strategy.
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‘If the Champions League was vital to my club, something would have been done with the transfer window between Feyenoord and Benfica,’ Mourinho said before the play-off second leg with the Portuguese club. ‘I don’t think Fenerbahce has a transfer list.’
This quote is believed to have been the ‘final straw’ with the board ‘unanimously’ deciding to send Mourinho on his way.
In his only full season at Fenerbahce, Mourinho failed to bring home any silverware as they finished second to bitter rivals Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Lig. They were also knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup and couldn’t get past the round of 16 in the Europa League.
President Ali Koc is understood to have held a meeting with the former Chelsea manager in London in June, during which they discussed severing ties after just a solitary season.
However, the decision was made for Mourinho to continue into the second year of his contract.
Just one month into the new season, though, and it was already clear that there was a rift between Mourinho and the board.
When the manager claimed that ‘the transfers necessary for me to be successful aren’t being made’, executives were said to be left bemused, claiming that he was ‘distorting facts’.
The board reportedly said: ‘We’ve asked him repeatedly which players he wants in which positions. He hasn’t named any players other than Milan Skriniar. If the necessary transfers aren’t being made, it’s not us, it’s Mourinho himself.’
The Turkish giants have brought in the likes of Nelson Semedo and former Aston Villa starlet John Duran this summer as they bid to win back the Turkish Super Lig crown, but the moves were not enough to satisfy Mourinho.
His 11th managerial job has now come to an end, and he leaves Fenerbahce seventh in the league on four points after two games.
The news comes just one day after fellow former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked by Besiktas after the Turkish club were dumped out of Europe in the Conference League play-offs.
Solskjaer, 52, lasted seven months in the role, having been appointed in January.
The pair may just be on their former employers’ radar once again as pressure ramps up on Ruben Amorim after the Red Devils were humiliated by League Two Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday night.
