Return of the King? Jose Mourinho and Chelsea 'agree provisional deal to make him manager again'
But keep that champagne on ice, Blues fans - there are
hurdles still to clear and he's said to have similiar agreement with PSG
too
Building Bridges: Mourinho is believed to have made up with Roman Abramovich
Jose Mourinho is close to a Chelsea return after Roman Abramovich
agreed to swallow his pride and reappoint the "Special One" as manager.
Real
Madrid coach Mourinho was due to be at Stamford Bridge on Monday night
to watch Russia play Brazil as part of a whistle-stop visit to London.
And,
six years after his tempestuous relationship with Abramovich ended in
combustion, Mourinho is on the brink of consenting to go back "home" to the Blues.
It
is understood Mourinho and Abramovich HAVE reached a provisional
agreement for the Portuguese to take over from interim Rafa Benitez this
summer on a three-year contract.
There are still significant
stumbling blocks before any deal can be signed though, with Anzhi
Makhachkala's Dutch veteran Guus Hiddink lined up as a potential
fall-back option if the Mourinho move goes wrong.
Mourinho is
believed to have made it clear that he will only consider a return if
Chelsea finish in the top four, qualifying for next season's Champions
League.
More contentiously - and what could cause a major hurdle -
the Portuguese is concerned about working in an environment where
technical director Michael Emenalo and chief executive Ron Gourlay hold
the levers of power.
Also, sources in France and Spain insist
Mourinho's agent, Jorge Mendes, has struck a similar provisional deal
with Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain, who are ready to dump ex-Chelsea
boss Carlo Ancelotti if his expensively-assembled side do not win Ligue 1
this season.
But, with Mourinho determined to pack his bags and
leave Real at the end of the season irrespective of whether he becomes
the first manager to win the Champions League with three different
clubs, it seems that the hopes and prayers of most Blues fans could be
answered.
The 50-year-old has played a blatant game of tease with would-be suitors over recent weeks, including suggesting he could go back to a former club but that he might be ready to unleash a "surprise".
What
is evident, though, is that Abramovich - falsely reported by one
Russian TV station to have been arrested in the United States on Monday -
is ready to admit he made the biggest mistake of his reign when he
parted company with Mourinho in 2007.
While going back to the
Portuguese was deemed unthinkable two years ago, the situation has now
altered on the back of the troubled and short-lived reigns of Andre
Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and interim boss Benitez. Guus chase: Hiddink is in the frame to return if Mourinho doesn't
Mourinho has never hidden his wish to return to England - he
has a home in London and his daughter is set to embark on studies in the
capital this autumn - even though going back to the Bridge might
scupper any ambitions he has of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at
Manchester United.
The mercurial nature of Mourinho - and the
likelihood that he will try to force the issue when the final round of
contract negotiations begins in the summer - could yet see him move
elsewhere.
But, on Monday night, Chelsea's greatest and most
successful manager was closer to going back to SW6 than at any time
since he left to the anguished disbelief of the Blues fans following a
poor start to the 2007-08 season. ----------- Mirror Football
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