Jose Mourinho sacked by Roma and replaced by former captain Daniele De Rossi

Veteran manager pays the price after club slip to ninth spot in Serie A

Jose Mourinho has been sacked as Roma coach. Reuters

Jose Mourinho was removed as Roma manager “with immediate effect” on Tuesday, ending a turbulent time at the Serie A club for the veteran coach.

The decision came two days after a 3-1 defeat at AC Milan left Roma in ninth place in Serie A and at risk of missing out on the Champions League for a sixth straight season.

Roma, who are 22 points behind league leaders Inter Milan, said the decision was made with the "best interests" of the team in mind. Later in the day, the club confirmed he would be replaced by Roma legend Daniele de Rossi. The former midfielder, 40, came through the academy and made 616 appearances for the first team between 2001 and 2019. He has signed a deal until the end of the season with an option to extend.

"AS Roma can confirm that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff will leave the club with immediate effect," the club said in a statement.

"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," club owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin added in the statement.

"We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interest of the club.

"We wish Jose and his assistants all the best in their future endeavours."

Roma have taken just four points from their last five league matches and were eliminated from the Coppa Italia last week in a 1-0 defeat to rivals Lazio.

Following that defeat, Mourinho had likened himself to fictional wizard Harry Potter, saying his position at the club was raising fans' expectations for success.

Roma added that updates on the coaching staff “will follow imminently.”

Mourinho, who said last month that he wanted to extend his contract at Roma, could be headed to a club in Saudi Arabia or a national team position.

Mourinho replaced Paulo Fonseca as Roma's head coach in May 2021 and guided them to a sixth-placed finish and the Europa Conference League title in his first season.

Roma finished in sixth place in Serie A again last term and reached the Europa League final in Budapest, where they lost 4-1 on penalties to Sevilla after a 1-1 draw.

He won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup and three League Cups during two spells in charge of Chelsea after winning the Champions League with Porto.

The 60-year-old also won the Champions League as manager of Inter Milan, won La Liga with Real Madrid, triumphed in the Europa League with Manchester United.