LONDON: Fenerbahce’s Jose Mourinho has left by mutual agreement, the Turkish club said on Friday, bringing an end to the Portuguese coach’s tenure in Istanbul two days after his side crashed out of the Champions League playoffs to Benfica.

Another Turkish Super Lig side did the same when Besiktas sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after their 1-0 loss to Lausanne due to which they crashed out of the UEFA Conference League 2-1 on aggregate in their qualification playoff on Thursday.

Mourinho, 62, took charge of Fenerbahce in July 2024 after leaving AS Roma. A statement from the Istanbul club, chasing their first Turkish Super Lig title since 2014, said they had “mutually agreed to terminate” the contract with Mourinho.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager was greeted by thousands of fans when he arrived in Istanbul at the start of last summer, raising expectations of ending Galatasaray’s recent dominance.

Last season, Fenerbahce finished 11 points off league winners and Istanbul rivals Galatasaray, who also knocked Mourinho’s side out of the Turkish Cup, and their Europa League adventure ended at the last-16 stage on penalties to Rangers.

Fenerbahce’s inconsistent start to this season, with a win and a draw from their opening league games, and early European struggles put his position under pressure.

Mourinho’s side were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Benfica in the playoff round first leg but Wednesday’s 1-0 loss in Portugal meant Fenerbahce dropped into the Europa League.

The club did not immediately announce a successor.

Mourinho’s time in Turkey has been marred by controversy. In April he was banned for three matches for grabbing the nose of the Galatasaray manager at the end of a typically fiery derby.

In February, Galatasaray accused Mourinho of ‘racist statements’ after he said the home side’s bench had been “jumping like monkeys” following a 0-0 league draw.

Mourinho was given a four-match ban, later reduced to two, for derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football after that game.

The Portuguese manager’s impressive CV includes Champions League triumphs with Porto and Inter Milan, where he won the treble, along with three Premier League titles at Chelsea. His last trophy was the Conference League with Roma in 2022.

Besiktas had already been knocked out of the Europa League by Shakhtar Done­tsk in the qualifying rounds and defeat by Swiss side brought an end to Solskjaer’s time at the club after seven months.

Solskjaer, the former Cardiff City and Molde boss was hired in January of this year and lifted Besiktas from sixth to fourth place in the Super Lig. His team had won their only league game so far this season.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2025