South African coach Pitso Mosimane says he is proud of himself for ‘paving a way’ for legendary gaffer Jose Mourinho.

It has been reported that Mosimane’s former Saudi side Al Ahli wants to replace him with Mourinho, who is currently with Serie A club Roma.

Pitso left the team this month after guiding the club to promotion into the Saudi Pro League. His departure, however, was an acrimonious one after he went for over six months without getting his pay.

Al Ahli hierarchy also told the South African coach that they preferred a high-profile manager to take over from next season.

But Mosimane has remained unfazed and declared that he’s happy to have paved the way for his replacement at the Saudi club.

“My former team wants Mourinho. They can afford him. They want him… the media says that. And he was also on the news saying that he was taking a flight (to Saudi Arabia),” says Pitso Mosimane in a radio interview this week, as cited by The Citizen newspaper.

Pitso added: “I asked my president about that, and he said… Well, he is the ex president now because the big guns came and removed everybody.

“He said, because he knew about the transformation, he is the one who has been going around signing the players.

“He said we are very ambitious and we are making this league big and we must pave the way for the Mourinhos.

“How nice it is to pave the way for the Mourinho’s. For me, I take it as a compliment.”

Mosimane has since joined Al Wahda FC of United Arab Emirates.