Jose Mourinho has revealed he would not want to keep his runners-up medal if Tottenham lose April’s Carabao Cup Final to Saturday’s opponents Manchester City, but has defended the club’s decision to sell merchandise for the occasion.
Tottenham’s online shop is selling flags, pennants, magnets, mugs and scarves branded with ‘Carabao Cup Finalists 20/21’, which has prompted ridicule on social media from supporters of rival clubs.
It is Spurs’ first domestic final since 2015 and they are aiming to end a 13-year wait for silverware.
Mourinho’s own brand is entirely about winning and the Portuguese has never been one to celebrate simply taking part.
To emphasise that point, Mourinho offered to give away his runners-up medal if Spurs are beaten at Wembley on April 25 but does not believe that selling cup final merchandise is indicative of a small-time mentality.
“I didn’t know about the merchandise,” said Mourinho, who has won 12 of his 15 major finals.
“I think we have a marketing [and] merchandising department that is responsible for that and I presume that’s their job.”
“I don’t know, maybe I am saying something silly, but I imagine that a very important thing in their job is to make money, right? So if you can make money selling something, [then] make money!
“If you ask me if am I going to buy anything, I am not. If ask tell me, ‘If you lose the final, what are you going to do with your silver medal?’
“I am going to say first of all I think I am going to win the final, and secondly if you want my silver medal I’ll give to you because I don’t want to keep it.”
“But I think marketing and merchandising is about making money. Sell anything you can sell! When you go to Man Utd matches, how many sponsors they have around the pitch? They sell everything: they sell mattresses, they sell pillows, they sell shoulder supports or neck supports…they sell everything!
“So probably they are doing very well. We have empty stadiums, an incredible stadium always empty. How many millions is Tottenham losing every match we play at home?
“How many millions is Tottenham losing per month? We have to make money so we go to a final, try to sell some pins, some shirts, key-rings, anything. So well done.”
Mourinho’s comments are timely, with Spurs having just appointed the club’s first chief commercial officer, former NFL executive Todd Kline, who will start work in June.
The former Miami Dolphins will be tasked with growing the commercial side of the club, including helping to find a lucrative naming rights partner for their stadium.
Mourinho will be hoping Spurs can sell enough merchandise to raise funds for new signings in the summer but he is realistic about their limitations in the transfer market, particularly compared to City, who they meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, and champions Liverpool.
The Spurs manager desperately wants at least one top centre-half but Spurs are unlikely to spend the £64.3million that City paid for Ruben Dias or the £75m shelled out by Liverpool for Virgil van Dijk.
“I’m not going now to try to compare my situation with other clubs because the club was very open with me,” Mourinho said.
“I knew that I was going to come to a different reality. A big club, no doubt about that, not one second, but a club with a different profile in terms of being or not being a candidate to win competition A or B.
“A club not being able to resolve problems with a cheque. And the club made the possible efforts in the summer to improve the team and I’m not complaining with anything, I just do my work the best I can and that’s it.”
(London Evening Standard)
