Jose Mourinho was sacked as Manchester United manager last week (Image: GETTY)
Mourinho, who watched a football match in his native Setubal with his son on Saturday, is expected to remain at his home in nearby Azeitao after spending the festive season with wife Tami and children Matilde and Jose Mario.
For the first time since signing a three-year contract with the Red Devils in May 2016, the 55-year-old dad-of-two will not have to rush back to the UK on Christmas Day after enjoying a traditional Christmas Eve dinner with his loved ones.
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Like other southern European countries including Spain, where clubs get a winter break, the big Christmas family get-together is the night of December 24 rather than lunch the following day.
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Tami, 52, is understood to be back to full health following two hospital ops which led to Mourinho making three lightning 2,100-mile round trips back to Portugal in just over a week in January last year.
Reports at the time said she had undergone emergency surgery in Lisbon after suffering complications from an earlier op.
The mum-of-two cancelled an annual Christmas holiday she was planning to take with their children at the £7,500-a-week Nannai Beach Resort in Porto Galinhas, Brazil.
Mourinho’s mum Maria Julia is due to join him for their Christmas dinner at their home in Azeitao, which he bought in 2008 for nearly £1.4 million and is one of five properties he is thought to own in Portugal.
It will be only his second Christmas without his former footballer dad Jose Mourinho Felix, who died in June last year aged 79 after health problems including a lung infection and brain haemorrhage.
Mourinho left Manchester United 11 points off the top four (Image: GETTY)
The out-of-work boss has in the past taken advantage of spells between clubs to opt for New Year in the sun.
He flew to the tourist town of Porto de Galinhas in Parnambuco, north-east Brazil, at the end of 2015 after being sacked by Chelsea when he was the Premier League’s highest-paid manager on £10.5million a year.
He saw in the New Year with his wife and two children at a £7,500-a-week hotel villa with its own private pool and gazebo.
But Portuguese media say this year he will also stay in Portugal for the start of 2019 to decide on his footballing future before his wife and children return to the UK where they have been based for the last few years.
Mourinho’s final game in charge of United was a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool (Image: GETTY)
A source told respected Portuguese daily Correio da Manha: “Jose had already planned to spend Christmas in Portugal but the difference this time round is that he won’t have to return to England on December 25.
“He’s going to take advantage of his unexpected break to spend some time with his family and will probably stay in the Setubal area for the next few weeks.
“At the moment all his close family are established in England. Some adjustments can be made but his son studies there and Matilde has a job in London.”
Mourinho was pictured on Saturday at Setubal’s Bonfim Stadium with his son and former United scout Ricardo Formosinho, who also left the Red Devils last week.
Mourinho has already revealed he is keen to get back into management (Image: GETTY)
The home team lost 2-0 to First Division rivals Santa Clara from the Azores, who Formosinho used to manage.
He looked happy and relaxed as he posed for photos with children watching the match – and was photographed doing a high five with one youngster.
Football fan Alexandre Queiros tweeted after the match: “Six days ago Mourinho went from being in one of the biggest jobs in the football world and working in one of football’s most famous matches to watching Setubal lose 2-0 at home in a crowd of 3,000. Twists and turns.”
Some Spanish media claim Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is toying with the idea of inviting Mourinho back to the club for a second spell.
Mourinho was sacked as Chelsea boss before getting the United job (Image: GETTY)
The Spanish businessman’s continuing admiration for Mourinho’s disciplinarian approach to his footballers is an open secret.
Former Real Madrid director of football Predrag Mijatovic claimed in a Spanish radio interview after Mourinho’s sacking Florentino “loved him” and he had a good chance of returning to the club he managed for three years till May 2013.
Former United captain Roy Keane has accused the current crop of Old Trafford players of throwing Mourinho “under the bus.”
He told BBC Radio 5 live: “People say Mourinho has been falling out with players, well you would fall out with players when they turn up overweight or aren’t training properly and are not producing.
Mourinho has been tipped to return to Italy for his next role (Image: GETTY)
“For some of them to down tools, shame on some of those players.
“I’m not Mourinho’s biggest fan, don’t get me wrong, but I just can’t tolerate footballers who hide behind their agents, their pals in the media. It’s a bit of a joke really.
“The modern player, they’re not just weak players, they’re very weak human beings. You can’t say a word to them.
“I know the game has changed a little bit but the players really do get away with murder and it’s really frustrating.”