According to reports, Jose Mourinho has ‘ditched’ Manchester United as he would prefer a Chelsea ‘homecoming’ to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
The current Chelsea boss is under increasing pressure as the Premier League club’s fortunes have not improved since his arrival ahead of this season.
Pochettino is the second favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked following Chelsea’s disappointing 4-2 home loss to Wolves over the weekend.
The former Tottenham head coach will be desperate for a win on Wednesday night as Chelsea face Aston Villa in a FA Cup replay. During his pre-match press conference, Pochettino came across as a manager under pressure as he resorted to comparing his side to Liverpool.
“When we lost to Liverpool, it was: massive fail, oh look at Chelsea, how bad it is. [When] Liverpool lost to Arsenal, I didn’t hear anything. But it was a similar result to when we played against Liverpool,” Pochettino told reporters.
“That is affecting the players, because this team needs confidence. We need the support and our fans need to be behind Chelsea. The people need to realise that situation. We cannot send any different messages.”
Regarding potential replacements for Pochettino, Mourinho is currently the second favourite to be the next Chelsea manager.
Mourinho has been out of work since leaving Italian giants AS Roma at the start of this month. He departed with them ninth in Serie A.
With Erik ten Hag also under pressure, it has recently been claimed that Mourinho is targeting a ‘sensational return’ to Man Utd as he feels that he has ‘unfinished business’ at Old Trafford.
But a report from Spanish outlet Nacional suggests Mourinho has ‘ditched Man Utd for a homecoming call’ from Chelsea and ‘could have already decided what will be his next destination’.
Other outlets have indicated that a move to the Saudi Pro League is ‘imminent’ but Mourinho has ‘rejected’ advances from the Middle East despite them ‘offering him a stratospheric salary, in addition to giving him full powers to direct a project that he will receive next summer even more signings’.
It is said that Mourinho ‘wants to continue to be tied to an elite club’ and a return to the Premier League is ‘most likely’. The report finishes by saying a ‘the possibility of a return to Chelsea is open to him’ and he ‘could become an ideal substitute for Pochettino in the coming weeks’.
According to the bookies, Girona’s Michel Sanchez, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso are among the other frontrunners to replace Pochettino.
