AS Roma Sack Jose Mourinho

 AS Roma have today, 16th January 2024 officially announced the immediate departure of Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff with immediate effect.

 The Giallorossi have won just one of their last six Serie A games and been knocked out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals Lazio

 The Portuguese, 60, took over in May 2021 and led Roma to the Europa Conference League title a year later and the Europa League final in 2023.

 But they are five points off Serie A’s final Champions League qualifying spot and last week were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals Lazio.

 Owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin thanked Mourinho “for the passion and commitment he has shown” as boss.

 “We will always have great memories of his stewardship, but we believe that, in the best interests of the club, immediate change is necessary,” they added in a statement.

 After the cup loss to Lazio, Mourinho compared himself to Harry Potter, suggesting his profile was “raising expectations” for what Roma could achieve.

 That result was followed by a 3-1 league defeat by AC Milan on Sunday which left Roma five points adrift of fourth-placed Fiorentina.

A club statement read: “We would like to thank Jose on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club. “We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interests of the club. “We wish Jose and his assistants all the best in their future endeavours.”

Roma next host 18th-placed Verona on Saturday.