Jose Mourinho: Why does the Benfica coach love Newcastle?

Those at the top at Barcelona initially wanted someone with connections to the club to be Sir Bobby’s assistant, but he insisted it had to be Mourinho.

For good reason.

Sir Bobby was walking into a club divided following the departure of legendary coach Johan Cruyff and needed someone he trusted implicitly, who could help get his message across in another foreign language.

By this point, Mourinho’s role had long since evolved.

He helped out on the training ground. He produced exploratory files on the opposition that Sir Bobby rated as the best he had ever seen. Most importantly, he was used to dealing with international players.

In the testing environment, the duo complemented each other again, as midfielder Guillermo Amor explained.

“They succeeded in creating a good atmosphere and forming a very strong team,” he said.

“Jose had a greater connection with the players because of his fluency in the language and his age, which was very similar to ours.

He added: “He had great respect for Bobby and Bobby had great confidence in everything Jose could do on the field and in the locker room.”

Sir Bobby won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Cup in what proved to be his final season in charge of Mourinho before the Barcelona coach moved to the position of general manager and was replaced by Louis van Gaal.

Mourinho told Sir Bobby he wanted to leave out of loyalty but his mentor persuaded him to stay, having already briefed Van Gaal on the benefits of keeping his assistant.

Had Mourinho not spent another three years at Camp Nou under Van Gaal, the Portuguese could have followed Sir Bobby to Newcastle in 1999.

Instead, he went it alone – but Sir Bobby’s influence remains.

To this day, Mourinho still cherishes the moments the pair’s families shared in Sitges, the meals Sir Bobby never let him pay for, and the lessons he taught him about life.

That’s why the 62-year-old considers himself a “little magpie.”

“The club over there knows how much love and respect I have for them,” he told CBS earlier this month. “I learned this love from Mr. Robson.”