Jose closer to Chelsea return

Jose Mourinho last night moved a step closer to a return to Chelsea after Real Madrid president Florentino Perez confirmed the Portuguese will leave the club at the end of the season.

The announcement came as little surprise after weeks of speculation that Mourinho’s time in Spain was up.

Earlier this month, in the wake of a third successive Champions League semi-final defeat, Mourinho dropped a major hint he would be returning to Stamford Bridge, stating: “I know in England I am loved. I know I am loved by some clubs, especially one.”

“The club and the manager agree the timing is right to bring our relationship to an end,” Perez said last night. “On behalf of the directors, I’d like to thank Jose Mourinho for his hard work over the last three years.”

Perez added: “No-one has been sacked, no-one has quit, it was a mutual agreement. It’s not an ideal situation that he is leaving, but after three years we both agree that it was the right time to end this relationship.

“He believes that the best thing is if he leaves the club, and I share his reasons. It’s the right decision to start a new project.”

Perez added that the club had not come to any agreement, or signed any pre-contract with a coach, declaring they would begin searching for Mourinho’s successor in the coming days.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti has been touted as the frontrunner and admitted on Sunday that he had met with his current club’s president Nasser Al Khelaifi and director of football Leonardo to inform them of his desire to leave the Ligue 1 champions and join Madrid.

Al Khelaifi confirmed that but reiterated that the club wanted the Italian to see out his contract, which expires in 2014.

Perez also declared that Mourinho would not receive any compensation for leaving the club, therefore forgoing the €20 million clause in the coach’s contract in the event he was sacked.

Asked about the likelihood of Ancelotti replacing Mourinho, Perez said: “A few days ago the president of PSG spoke to one of our directors about the possibility of Carlo Ancelotti leaving the club to join Madrid.

“They told us it was not possible and we respect that.”

* Alex Ferguson was last night named the LMA’s Premier League manager of the year.