'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Jose Mourinho leaves Chelsea for the second time in a decadeNobody in football can have been surprised at the turn of events at Stamford Bridge on Thursday afternoon. Jose Mourinho’s sacking from the Blues was a case of when rather than if.Losing nine of his opening 16 games is unheard of for Chelsea in the Roman Abramovich era and, for Mourinho, it has put a great big red line through his managerial CV. Before this season, for example, he had lost just five home games in a decade as a manager across various leagues in Europe. He had lost that many in 2014/15. The club's technical director was very specific about their reasons for letting him go.Nevertheless, he still remains a presence and a big name and there’ll be no shortage of takers for his signature. We take a look at five possible destinations for the Portuguese manager.
#1 Portugal
The timing of Jose Mourinho’s sacking couldn’t really have come at a better time. Way back in 2013, he noted that he wanted the national team job in 2016 although his contract at Real Madrid at the time had three years to run, taking him up to the European Championships next year.
Since then, he has been sacked by both Real and Chelsea, and there is now a grace period where he will certainly assess his best option.
In an interview with RMC Sport two years ago, his words were unequivocal: “I would love to be the national team coach one day. I think the Portuguese people are waiting for that to happen.”
Never one to understate his case or aims, he is likely to be a popular appointment for a country who still hold him in the highest esteem and have a particular pride for the way in which the man from Setubal has authored a hugely successful managerial career.
Quite probably the move Mourinho will favour above all others.
#2 Valencia
Before anyone blows this link out of the water, consider the facts. Gary Neville has only been given a six-month contract and, for all intents and purposes, he doesn’t intend to stay any longer than that.
Jorge Mendes is a close friend and confidante of owner Peter Lim and, indeed, it could be said that many of Valencia’s problems boil down to Mendes’ meddling in team affairs and ensuring that his stable of players get promotions to the first team and associated games.
Mendes is also the man who brokered the deal for Jose Mourinho to go to Chelsea in the first instance and has remained firm friends with the Special One.
A six-month sabbatical for Mourinho to take him out of the firing line wouldn’t be the worst decision that has ever been made. It would also allow him the chance to recharge his batteries before a renewed assault on La Liga and Europe from next season.
#3 Manchester United
Louis van Gaal is treading the thinnest of lines at present at Old Trafford. The manager who insisted in his opening gambit that he had been a champion around Europe and would also become one in England hasn’t lived up to the hype.
Indeed, there have even been suggestions that David Moyes’s United vintage played a better brand of football than the Dutchman. Van Gaal’s philosophy has been an experiment that clearly has not worked.
When Sir Alex Ferguson retired, there would have been little doubt that Mourinho was one of his preferred replacements at United.The two shared a mutual respect and on more than one occasion, the Scot put forward a convincing argument as to why Mourinho was the ideal candidate to manage at Old Trafford.
The timing just wasn’t right as Mourinho himself noted: “Every manager in the world looks at Man United as a huge club but I wanted to come to Chelsea and we didn’t bring that to the table because we were so open and he knows so much about myself.”
Now the landscape has changed and don’t be surprised to hear United’s ambassador smoothing the waters for the Portuguese manager again.
#4 Porto
Iker Casillas will be praying that his former manager doesn’t decide to come back to where it all started for him. It would be a huge surprise for the powers that be to consider removing Julen Lopetegui, however the remainder of the season ends up.
As it stands, Porto sit in second place only two points behind leaders Sporting Lisbon. They are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga and are playing some sparkling stuff at present.
Mourinho isn’t known for particular expansive football – a season at Madrid aside – and the likelihood of the locals revolting would be high.
It would be an outside bet, but Mourinho is still held in the highest esteem in his country of birth and to rule out the move is folly. If, after a period of reflection and relaxation, the Portuguese boss feels it is the right move for him personally, watch his agent and team around him go into PR overdrive to ensure that it becomes a formality.
#5 Real Madrid
Strangely enough, a return to Real Madrid seems the most likely option at this juncture. Rafael Benitez was supposed to be Los Blancos’ saviour but his short tenure has been nothing but a disaster.
Club president Florentino Perez is a confirmed admirer of Mourinho and should Real lose to Valencia at the start of 2016, there is every reason to believe that the ex-Chelsea man will resurface in the Spanish capital.
Ex-Real president Ramon Calderon is convinced. According to his official Twitter account, Calderon noted: “Mou is closer to Madrid. Only a few things to sort out and he'll be here. Without a doubt the best news for Perez in the most difficult situation he has had as president.”
Given that by the end of his last season at Madrid he had, as now, become a hugely divisive presence in the dressing room, one wonders as to the logic of that particular appointment. But then logic has never played a part in the way Perez runs the All Whites.
