{"id":946279,"date":"2026-03-11T13:20:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/?p=946279"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:20:53","slug":"florenzi-mourinho-wanted-back-roma-he-knew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/florenzi-mourinho-wanted-back-roma-he-knew\/","title":{"rendered":"Florenzi says Mourinho wanted him back at Roma: &#8216;He knew&#8217;","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Article Start --><p>Former Roma defender Alessandro Florenzi says Jos\u00e9 Mourinho wanted to bring him back to the Stadio Olimpico in 2021: \u2018He knew it wasn\u2019t true that I had argued with everyone.\u2019<\/p><p>Ex-Italy international Florenzi reveals Mourinho wanted to work with him at Roma in 2021 after the Portuguese surprisingly took charge of the Giallorossi.<\/p><h2>Florenzi: Mourinho knew I hadn\u2019t argued with everyone at Roma<\/h2><p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBUhu9duQB\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 2334px; aspect-ratio: 2334\/1556;\"><\/smartframe-embed><\/p><p>\u201cHe called me; he wondered why I had argued with everyone,\u201d Florenzi told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.corrieredellosport.it\/news\/calcio\/2026\/03\/11-147198435\/florenzi_la_roma_il_milan_e_quel_biglietto_per_tirana_la_mia_nuova_vita\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corriere dello Sport.<\/a><\/p><p>\u201cAsk people in Trigoria; it wasn\u2019t true. Mourinho knew it too. He wanted me, and I\u2019d have played for him.\u201d<\/p><p>Florenzi spent nine seasons at Roma, leaving the club in January 2020. He then played for Valencia and PSG, on loan, but when Mourinho was appointed as the new Giallorossi coach in 2021, the Italian had a chance to return to the Olimpico.<\/p><p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOB3vQVjcQg\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3543px; aspect-ratio: 3543\/2362;\"><\/smartframe-embed><\/p><p>After his return from PSG, however, Florenzi joined Milan, first on loan and then on a permanent deal from 2022-23.<\/p><p>The Euro 2020 Italy winner scored 28 goals in 280 games with <a href=\"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/category\/teams\/roma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roma<\/a>. He retired at the end of the 2024-25 campaign; so what\u2019s next for him?<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-414x276.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-778512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-414x276.jpg 414w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-190x127.jpg 190w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-245x163.jpg 245w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-770x513.jpg 770w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-310x207.jpg 310w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fbl-ita-seriea-milan-juventus.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/p><p>\u201cBeing a coach must be tough,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>\u201cI can\u2019t say it with certainty now, many people say that a coaching role would suit me, others say I should be a director. I\u2019d like to talk to the players, work with them and help, but I still don\u2019t know in which capacity.\u201d<\/p><p>Florenzi also scored two goals in 49 appearances with the Italy national team. His final appearance was in June 2022, in a 0-0 draw against England.<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_930764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-930764\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-414x276.jpg\" alt=\"LISBON, PORTUGAL - NOVEMBER 05: Jose Mourinho, Head Coach of Benfica, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025\/26 League Phase MD4 match between SL Benfica and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at on November 05, 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues\/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-930764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-414x276.jpg 414w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-190x127.jpg 190w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-245x163.jpg 245w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-770x513.jpg 770w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-310x207.jpg 310w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sl-benfica-v-bayer-04-leverkusen.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-930764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">LISBON, PORTUGAL \u2013 NOVEMBER 05: Jose Mourinho, Head Coach of Benfica, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025\/26 League Phase MD4 match between SL Benfica and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at on November 05, 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><!-- Article End -->","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Roma defender Alessandro Florenzi says Jos\u00e9 Mourinho wanted to bring him back to the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":102,"featured_media":820815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,41482,4,41484,31,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-946279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azzurri","category-italy","category-news","category-newsnow","category-roma","category-serie-a"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/icdn.football-italia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ac-milan-v-as-roma.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":946281,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946279\/revisions\/946281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-italia.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}