Jose Mourinho tried to sign 'favourite enemy' for three different clubs and got turned down each time

Jose Mourinho tried to sign his 'favourite enemy' for THREE different clubs and got turned down each time.

Mourinho has enjoyed a legendary managerial career, having won two Champions League titles with Porto and Inter Milan.

He's also won the domestic league title in England, Italy and Spain with Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid.

The 62-year-old has coached some of the game's greatest players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

He has also pitted his managerial wits against some of the best players in history.

One of them being Steven Gerrard, who came up against Mourinho when he was at Liverpool.

But Mourinho tried everything in his power to have Gerrard at his disposal.

The Portuguese dubbed the English midfielder as his 'favourite enemy', revealing he tried to bring him to Chelsea, Inter and Real.

Jose Mourinho applauds Steven Gerrard following his substitution. Image: Getty

Speaking to Sky Sports in 2015, Mourinho said: "Steven Gerrard is for sure one of my favourite enemies - an enemy with all the good feeling I can express with that word in football.

"For sure, in England he is my dear enemy. For sure, he is the one that made me a better manager. To stop him or try and stop him has been very, very difficult."

On Gerrard, Mourinho added: "I tried to bring him to Chelsea, I tried to bring him to Inter (Milan), I tried to bring him to Real Madrid but he was always a dear enemy.

"I want to honour him and I hope Stamford Bridge has the same feeling as I have, which is we need people like him as our opponents."

Other than a short spell with LA Galaxy, Gerrard spent his whole career at Liverpool, winning the Champions League and FA Cup during his iconic spell at Anfield.

But things could have been very different had he joined Chelsea in 2005.

Despite not winning a Premier League title in his career, Mourinho believes Gerrard had an 'amazing career'.

He said: "In the end I think he had an amazing career and (such) an amazing feeling with his people that he refused to play for other big clubs - he refused to play in other big leagues to play only for Liverpool."