Mourinho - I am the enemy

Jose Mourinho flew into London today with “a ticket and a bodyguard” and headed for Stamford Bridge.

But the man whose future could belong in west London was on a mission to check out the two teams vying to face his magnificent Porto side in the May 26 Champions League final.

Contact with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and owner Roman Abramovich was off his agenda.

Mourinho described himself as “the enemy” as he prepared to watch the Londoners take on Monaco in the second semi-final of the elite European competition.

Even though Mourinho admits that he might well leave Porto this summer, for now he intends to be ruthlessly professional and leave any negotiating – should there be an approach – to his advisors.

Current Chelsea chief Claudio Ranieri is expecting to be shown the door this summer, admitting on Tuesday that he already knows the identity of his likely successor.

Mourinho might well be that man.

The fresh challenge could be appealing to the man who began his professional career as a physical education teacher, and who only entered football at the age of 29 as a translator to former Sporting Lisbon boss Bobby Robson.

His achievements with Porto over the past two years have been so remarkable that he hardly has anything left to prove in the Portuguese game.

Mourinho hailed his team as “one of the greatest of all time in Portuguese football” after they overcame Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 on aggregate in their Champions League semi-final.

“I’m going to see Chelsea versus Monaco as the enemy,” he said. “As a professional duty.

“I don’t think enemies are well received so I have a ticket and a bodyguard.

“I won’t be speaking with clubs, directors, presidents or owners. I am very concentrated on my job.

“I have a person who controls such things for me, and I am very isolated - always concentrated on my work.”

Porto are chasing back-to-back European titles, having beaten Celtic in last year’s UEFA Cup final, and their domestic record under Mourinho is similarly notable to their continental exploits.

He joined Porto in 2002, since when success has been constant.

This, though, is arguably their greatest achievement to date, and Mourinho said: “The players very much deserve to be in the final.

“It’s not normal to win the league twice in a row, to be in two Portuguese cup finals and two European finals.

“This team is one of the greatest of all time in Portuguese football.

“I very much respect the Benfica and Porto teams who were European champions of the past, but it’s one thing to be European champions in those days and to be champions now.

“Since the Bosman ruling, any team can have the best players in the world.

“It is now a game for powerful clubs. I believe that my players are figureheads for Portuguese football.”

Real Madrid are another club reported to be trailing Mourinho, but for now he claims to be consumed by preparation for the trip to Gelsenkirchen for European football’s club showpiece.

“May 26 is going to be a fantastic day for me,” he remarked.

“We’re used to watching matches like this on the television.

“We have to enjoy the occasion.

“I don’t know whether or not this final will be my last day at Porto, but if I am to leave Porto, I want to go out through the front door.”