Jose Mourinho, Roma Agree to 3-Year Contract Beginning with 2021-22 Season

AS Roma announced Tuesday it's agreed to a three-year contract with Jose Mourinho to become the Serie A club's new manager from the 2021-22 season.

Mourinho was fired by Tottenham Hotspur in April after prior stints leading some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The announcement came hours after Roma confirmed head coach Paulo Fonseca would leave the club at the end of the current term.

"On behalf of everyone at AS Roma, we would like to thank Paulo Fonseca for the hard work and leadership shown during these two years," club president Dan Friedkin said. "Paulo led the team through several challenges, including the COVID pandemic and a change of ownership, and he did so with generosity, fairness and great character."

ESPN reported that Fonseca, who was hired in June 2019, had "clashed with several of Roma's senior players," including star striker Edin Dzeko.

It's been a frustrating campaign for the Giallorossi, which likely played a role in the hastened announcement of an impending managerial transition with four matches remaining in the Serie A season.

They are seventh in the domestic table with 55 points from 34 matches, which puts them in danger of missing out on European qualification for next season. They are only two points clear of Sassuolo in the race for a Europa Conference League berth.

In addition, they trail Manchester United 6-2 on aggregate after the first leg of their Europa League semifinals and were eliminated from the Coppa Italia in the Round of 16 by Spezia.

Roma hasn't captured a trophy since the 2008 Coppa Italia, and it last finished atop the Serie A table in 2001.

Mourinho rose to prominence by leading Porto to a Champions League title in 2004, a feat he later matched with Inter Milan in 2010. His results have been mostly underwhelming since guiding Chelsea to a Premier League title in 2015, though.

His best results at Manchester United were Europa League and EFL Cup titles in 2017, and he failed to deliver any major trophies during his time with Spurs.

The 2010 FIFA World Coach of the Year will be expected to deliver an instant turnaround at Roma, starting with some moves in the summer transfer window to help revitalize the squad.