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20 April 2024

Villas-Boas frets as Mourinho eyes Chelsea return

Chelsea manager Andres Villas-Boas is under pressure from his former boss Jose Mourinho. (FILE)

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By Staff

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is ready to make a shock return to England with former club Chelsea, the Sun said.

Mourinho will quit at Real Madrid this summer and is keen to resume his old job at Stamford Bridge, it said.

The only stumbling block to a move will be his insistence that owner Roman Abramovich give him total control of team matters, the newspaper said.

That way, he guarantees to bring the glory days back to the west London club.
 
Mourinho won six trophies in three years at Chelsea but failed to reach Abramovich’s goal of a Champions League crown.

Abramovich might well be tempted. He has tried a succession of managers since Mourinho's shock departure in 2007 - Avram Grant, Phil Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti and now Mourinho's ex-scout, Andre Villas-Boas.
 
But all failed to match Mourinho's heroics.
 
Current boss Villas-Boas has Chelsea only fourth after a string of disappointing displays and results.

He was brought in at a cost of almost £25 million ($39.5 million), including a £12 million, three-year contract, £5 million in compensation to his former club Porto and severance pay for Ancelotti.
 
But Mourinho believes he has unfinished business at Chelsea.
 
He won all four domestic trophies - the EPL, FA and Carling Cups and Community Shield - but never captured the Champions League crown.
 
Adding Chelsea to his previous successes with Porto and Inter Milan would be his top aim, an ambition shared by Abramovich.

Villas-Boas is aware that Mourinho would pose a serious threat to his position at Chelsea should he quit Real Madrid.
 
Speculation is mounting regarding Mourinho's future in Spain, with it suggested he could walk away from his current post at the end of the season.
 
Villas-Boas, who worked with Mourinho at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Porto, is aware that he must deliver if he is to avoid seeing his position called into question, but he also believes that a number of other high-profile bosses will be looking anxiously over their shoulder if the self-proclaimed 'Special One' were to find himself out of work.
 
He told Sky Sports: "At the moment, there is not a vacancy at this club, that is the most important thing. And the Real Madrid manager is not available at the moment. He's tied to the best club in the world.
 
"The only thing I can say is that I have lived Jose's availability when we were out of Chelsea and we know and I know how many clubs came knocking on our doors.
 
"So, a manager of Jose's dimension and the number one in the world will always be an attractive target for whatever club."
 
Villas-Boas added: "Because he's a manager that makes himself available to return to his beloved England will for sure capture the interests of City, United and Chelsea and Tottenham and Liverpool and Arsenal, and so on and so forth.
 
"So, in that sense, we are all under pressure, from (Roberto) Mancini to (Sir Alex) Ferguson to me to (Kenny) Dalglish to Harry Redknapp and so on."