Claudio Ranieri reveals Jose Mourinho was the first person to congratulate him on Fulham job
Mourinho and Ranieri have not always enjoyed a good relationship
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Your support makes all the difference.Claudio Ranieri has revealed that Jose Mourinho was the first to welcome him back to the Premier League when he replaced Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham.
The Manchester United boss wore Ranieri’s initials to show support for the Italian following his departure from Leicester in February 2017 after winning the league.
However, the pair also have history of feuds after Mourinho criticised Ranieri’s work at both Chelsea and Roma, describing him as someone who “has the mentality of someone who doesn’t need to win.”
As he prepares his team to travel to Old Trafford on Saturday, Ranieri revealed he has repaired his relationship with Mourinho and is looking forward to facing his old foe.
"He told me, 'Welcome back, all the best'. We speak about everything” Ranieri said. "It was a text message. Sometimes we speak. He's a fantastic man.
"I know him for a long time, when he came to Chelsea and in Italy, and he was very polite with me.
"He's a great man, coach, manager and also the football is important.”
Fulham remain at the bottom of the table despite their point against Leicester on Wednesday, and their new boss expects a difficult game despite United’s poor form.
"Manchester [United] are one of the best teams in the Premier League and also in the Champions League," he said.
"It's a fantastic team and stadium and we want to make a point. We know it's hard, but nothing is impossible.
"Manchester are getting better, for us it will be difficult. We must make a perfect performance.
Mourinho’s side also drew in midweek with Arsenal and remain winless in their last four league matches.
"Every manager would like to win, the desire is to win, but we have a great respect for Manchester” Ranieri said.
"Every match we improve, but it's not easy because when you stay at the bottom of the table, it's not so (easy to be) confident 100 per cent.
"I gave my confidence to my players, but if you have two or three good results the confidence of the team grows immediately and I am confident we will do this."
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