Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho admits he has
rejected offers from around 10 clubs since being out of work as
they were not "big enough".
Mourinho, who parted company with the Blues in September,
recently said he was ready to return to management after eight
months out of the game.
Mourinho has been linked with jobs at Inter Milan, Real Madrid
and Barcelona, but all three clubs now seem to have coaches in
place for next season.
Inter coach Roberto Mancini looks set to stay at the club after
backing down on his threat to quit, while Madrid president Ramon
Calderon has said coach Bernd Schuster will stay on and Barca have
appointed Josep Guardiola to replace Frank Rijkaard.
With three of the biggest vacancies in world football seemingly
filled for the foreseeable future, Mourinho insists he is prepared
to play the waiting game.
He told Portuguese newspaper A Bola: "Take Marcello Lippi as an
example. He was world champion with Italy, now he's not working, so
he's waiting for a club that's big enough for him.
"As I'm not prepared to take a step back and become a mid-level
coach, I'll either work for a big club or I won't work. Full
stop.
"That's why in these past few months I've turned down - I don't
know - eight, nine or 10 clubs, because I wasn't prepared to take a
step backwards."
Despite failing to attract offers from top-level clubs in Spain
and Italy, the Portuguese reiterated his desire to coach in one of
those leagues.
He said: "Right now I have one priority: I would like to coach
in either the Spanish or Italian championship, as these are the
strongest in the world."