Owen Hargreaves commenting on the speculation of Jose Mourinho’s potential connection with Bayern Munich.

Owen Hargreaves, the former footballer turned pundit, has made a lighthearted comment about Jose Mourinho potentially learning German, hinting at the possibility of the Portuguese manager taking over at Bayern Munich. The current Bayern boss, Thomas Tuchel, is reportedly facing pressure despite leading the team to the Bundesliga title in his first season.

Bayern Munich, who bolstered their squad with the addition of Harry Kane in the summer, were expected to defend their title and make a strong impact in the UEFA Champions League. However, their season took a turn for the worse after consecutive defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Lazio.

As a result, Bayern find themselves five points behind the league leaders in the Bundesliga and must overturn a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their last 16 tie against Lazio. During his analysis of Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League and Europa Conference League matches for TNT Sports, Hargreaves was asked about Mourinho’s future.

“I’m sure he’ll be putting his name out for some of the biggest jobs out there. There are some issues at Bayern – he’s probably learning German as we speak!,” Hargreaves jokingly remarked. “He’ll see himself at the top and I’ll be curious to see where he pops up. I think he will get another biggish one, probably not the biggest ones he had in the past, but somewhere similar to Roma.”

Meanwhile, Daniele De Rossi, who replaced Mourinho at Roma, has made a promising start to his managerial career at the club. Roma secured a respectable 1-1 draw against Feyenoord in the first leg of the Europa League play-off in the Netherlands. Since taking charge in January, De Rossi has only suffered one defeat, a 4-2 loss to Serie A leaders Inter.

However, Rory Smith, a global sports correspondent for the New York Times, expressed doubts about De Rossi’s suitability for the long term at Roma. “He has made an encouraging start, but it’s been a relatively kind fixture list,” Smith explained. “They’ve played the bottom three in Serie A – Verona, Salernitana, and Cagliari – in his first three games. That’s ideal for a manager.”

“They lost to Inter at the weekend but played really well in the first half, and Inter are flying this season. It’s a difficult situation. I don’t know if Roma necessarily want to give it to De Rossi long term, but if he does well… he’s so beloved there. He’s such a popular figure. You kind of have to give it to him or else everyone will be very upset.”

Smith also highlighted the potential risks of appointing De Rossi permanently, citing his lack of experience and the differing vision the club’s owners, the Friedkin family, may have. “If he doesn’t fit what the club wants, it can be a risk. De Rossi’s managerial career before Roma wasn’t impressive, but then if you want a manager that will give his heart and soul for Roma, there’s not many better than De Rossi,” Smith concluded.

Overall, De Rossi’s start as Roma’s interim manager has been decent, and progressing in the Europa League may be the best way for him to showcase his abilities.