Former Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho, is wanted by Indonesia as their national team coach, the country’s sports minister, Imam Nahrawi, confirmed on Tuesday.
Nahrawi said he had a discussion with Indonesia President, Joko Widodo, about the possibility of signing the Portuguese coach.
“This plan has been discussed with President Joko Widodo and the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympics Committee, Erick Thohir, even though this won’t be easy,” he told the media.
“When I asked Erick , Mourinho’s salary is about Rp250 billion (£13 million) per year.
“Mourinho’s arrival, would at least add enthusiasm among Indonesian football fans. We need this as a motivation for our players.
“Our national team head coach must be a foreigner, accompanied with our local coaches as his assistant.”
He further added the government had also discussed hiring interim Chelsea manager, Guus Hiddink.
“Mr. Erick said not Jose Mourinho, but Guus Hiddink instead. But the motivation is that we want to awaken the fighting spirit of the players,” he concluded.
Widodo is trying to revive Indonesian football after years of underperformance that saw world football governing body, FIFA, ban the country from international football, citing government interference.
Indonesia, ranked 185th in the FIFA world rankings, are one of four countries vying to host the 2023 Asian Cup.
A move for Mourinho to revive their beleaguered national football team might look enticing, but a fairytale approach.
The 53-year-old, who has also coached Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto, has been strongly tipped in media reports to take over from Louis van Gaal at Manchester United next season.
