Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho gave his first clear gesture of interest in becoming next England manager on Friday.

Although the English Football Association earlier denied having interviewed Mourinho or any other potential candidate, Mourinho has been linked with the vacant post since Steve McClaren was sacked last month after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

The 44-year-old was caught at the gate of his residence in Portugal by a reporter from Sky Sports News while Friday morning reports said that he had flown to England by private jet to meet with the FA.

When asked if he could be the successor to McClaren in a brief exchange, Mourinho replied with a smile and a "Why not".

"Being England manager is a big job," he said, "A big job is what I want."

He confirmed that he had planned to travel to England but cancelled it to avoid speculation.

"I would like to be in London with my family for a couple of days but nobody would believe the reason why I am there -- just to see friends and do some Christmas shopping.

"So to try to stop speculation, we decided to stay here."
 
He went on to play down talks that he is using The FA to get a leading club job elsewhere, suggested as in Real Madrid in particular.

"I'm not using The FA to get another job. I was upset when I heard the reports," he said.

"People need to trust The FA. They should let them do their job properly. The fans should support the next man more than ever."

It has been widely reported that the FA has narrowed down their search of the next England manager to a shortlist of five candidates: Mourinho, Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi, Jurgen Klinsmann and Martin O'Neill, which was also denied by FA on Friday.

Only Capello out of the five has declared his interest to manage England while Lippi and O'Neill both ruled themselves out of the running.

Aston Villa boss O'Neil backed Mourinho for the job on Friday's Times.

"I think Jose would be an excellent choice, simple as that," he was quoted.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)