Jose Mourinho to make shock return to Chelsea?

Jose Mourinho could be set to make an extraordinary u-turn, and rejoin Chelea after rebuilding his dismal relationship with owner Roman Abramovich.

It seems inevitable that Avram Grant is now on his way out at Chelsea, after failing to win a single major trophy at Stamford Bridge, however Frank Rijkaard remains the favourite to be named as the new manager at the London club, whilst Mourinho remains favourite to take over from Roberto Mancini at Inter MIlan.

A senior official at the club has revealed that the return of Mourinho has been discussed among board members, although it may be more conceivable that the return of Mourinho is delayed untill at least another manager has been at the club.

Mourinho was one of Chelsea’s most successful managers in thier history, and was worshipped among many sections of the Chelsea faithful. However rumours still strongly link the Portugese to heading for the San Siro in Italy.

Despite the fact that Mancini has won the Italian Serie A for the past three years, there has been a lack of European success, and incredibly he faces the sack to pave the way for Mourinho to take charge.

Meanwhile, Rijkaard appears to remain in pole positon for the managerial role at Stamford Bridge. The Dutchman is out of contract after being sacked at Barcelona, and may be the man to bring ‘beautiful football’ to Chelsea; something which has been craved by fans and media alike.

Another top name strongly linked with the Chelsea job is fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink. Hiddink is regarded as one of the worlds best tacticians, and has achieved great success at both club and international level. Like Rijkaard, many see Hiddink as the man to bring ‘beautiful football’ to Stamford Bridge. However, he is reportedly said to be deterred by the media pressure that would come with the job in England.

Whoever takes over the reigns at Stamford Bridge may find a slighty empty backroom of staff to work with though. The Times reports today that Henk ten Cate and Steve Clarke are also set to leave, along with the depature of manager Avram Grant.

Ten Cate is facing the sack after upsetting both players and staff after joining last autumn. The Dutchman is said to act intimidating towards players, and has not worked well with the coaching staff. Many players are said to have grown tired of his arrogant and bully-like behaviour.

Ten Cate famously clashed with captain John Terry after a training session on the eve of the Carling Cup Final earlier this year, which happened to be watched by a group of Chelsea fans on tour of the stadium.

Steve Clark however remains an extremely popular figure at the club, and is the only member of staff to have been employed before Abramovich’s era. However Clark may finally be set to leave his assistant post in order to gain a managerial experience, after being strongly linked with numerous Championship clubs.