Jose Mourinho was due back at Stamford Bridge on Monday night, ready to take his seat to watch Russia play Brazil in a friendly.Exactly where he was remained a mystery. Mourinho was on the guest list of the Brazilian FA, but there were no sightings of him braving the cold.
However, it may not be too long before Mourinho is back in even more familiar surroundings: the Chelsea dug-out and the home dressing room.
According to sources close to the self-anointed Special One, Mourinho is once again the chosen one. He is the man Roman Abramovich wants to succeed interim manager Rafa Benitez and a deal, say those sources, is as good as done.
This is not something anyone can confirm. Not when Mourinho remains the manager of Real Madrid, and the Spaniards remain in the hunt for the European Cup this season. But Mourinho has made no secret of his desire to return to England and the pouting Portuguese coach rarely speaks without an agenda.
‘I cannot deny what is clear in my mind,’ Mourinho said recently. ‘After Real Madrid, England, that’s for sure. I keep saying the same, I know clearly.’
He said he could manage ‘everyone’. That he is ‘a professional’ who would have to consider offers from other English clubs should they come.
Manchester City have been linked with a move for Mourinho, while Sir Alex Ferguson has made no secret of his admiration for his close friend.
When Ferguson does eventually retire, Mourinho would certainly be among the leading candidates to replace him, but a move to Manchester now looks extremely unlikely.
The only area in which Abramovich has shown any consistency since taking over at Chelsea is in his ability to surprise.
Initially, the billionaire owner did want someone else this summer. But when Pep Guardiola resisted Abramovich’s advances and opted to take charge at Bayern Munich for next season , the Russian oligarch was forced to think again.
Mourinho, he now realises, is his best option. A manager who is as close as it gets to someone who can guarantee success. He is a serial winner, having lifted the league title in all four countries he has worked — Portugal, England, Italy and Spain — and led Porto and Inter Milan to the Champions League crown.
Abramovich knows Mourinho is capable of rebuilding a squad boasting some tremendous talent in players such as Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard, but which still requires an overhaul.
The old guard, players who served Mourinho with such distinction when they won back-to-back Premier League titles, needs replacing, even if there would probably be a renewed desire to see Frank Lampard extend his stay at the club. But what of the problems of the past? What of the clash of egos — namely between Abramovich and Mourinho — that led to their split in 2007?
According to those same sources, Abramovich and Mourinho have settled their differences. Chelsea’s owner speaks fondly of his former manager in the company of friends and associates and stories of gifts that the Russian has sent to Mourinho are presented as further evidence.
Some amazing claims have been made. It has been reported that, six months after he was sacked as Chelsea manager in September 2007, Mourinho received a £2m vintage Ferrari from his old boss. There has also been talk of a £350,000 watch.
Officials at Chelsea claim the Ferrari story is untrue, but it is the kind of thing Abramovich does. The story goes that he once offered former Chelsea boss Avram Grant a painting that was hanging in his partner’s art gallery.
Grant, having recently been sacked as manager, politely declined, insisting he was no great lover of art. The value of the painting was said to run into millions.
Whatever the truth, Abramovich does not seem to burn too many bridges with the managers that he sacks — even when the relationship is as volatile as it was with Mourinho.
It is just as well in this case, because, short of signing a new contract, it seems everything has been agreed for Mourinho to make a sensational return to the club he should never have left in the first place.
Culled from Mail Online.
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