Chelsea to unveil Mourinho today

Jose Mourinho will be officially unveiled as Chelsea manager this morning, but wrangles over the manner in which his predecessor left Stamford Bridge look set to continue for some time.

Porto yesterday released the man who had guided them to Champions League glory from his contract after agreeing a compensation package, clearing the way for Mourinho to finalise a switch to west London, which will be announced at a 10am press conference.

Claudio Ranieri’s long-awaited departure was confirmed on Monday, freeing billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and chief executive Peter Kenyon to put the finishing touches to what is believed to be a lucrative, four-year deal for their new manager, who flew in to Heathrow with his family yesterday morning.

Ranieri’s representatives are, though, still in discussions with Chelsea concerning the settlement of the remainder of his contract.

And according to reports in the Spanish media, directors from Valencia, Ranieri’s former club, have already flown out to London to hold talks with the sacked Chelsea boss about the vacancy at the Mestalla Stadium, following Rafael Benitez’s decision to leave.

While the Italian is sure to get a warm reception when he collects the Variety Club of Great Britain’s Man of the Year award in London tonight, the fall-out from his departure is unlikely to settle down for some time.

Last night, former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates hit out at the manner in which Ranieri was shown the door at Stamford Bridge.

“Whatever happens I think the fans will be disappointed, if not disgusted, with the way he has been treated,” said Bates, who sold Chelsea to Abramovich earlier this year.

“You say ‘you have got to go, sorry about that, but thank you and here is your cheque’.

“You don’t say ’you have got to go, now we will haggle over what we owe you’.

“They might do that sort of thing in Russia, but they should not do it in England.”

He added: “Chelsea are now coming over as a club without honour, which is a terrible position to be in.

“I have sacked managers in my time, all chairman do, but I always honoured the contracts.”

Bates maintains Ranieri, whom he appointed to take over from Gianluca Vialli in September 2000, performed a minor miracle this season given all the external pressure.

“I have no opinion on the choice, I know nothing about it. I would have kept Ranieri,” declared Bates in an interview with BBC News 24.

“After all, somebody who gets you second in the league and into the European Cup semi-finals with so much turbulence, background pressure and public disloyalty, has had a magnificent season.”

He reflected: “The fans are very fickle – win the first 10 games and it will be ‘Claudio who?’, if they have a bad run it will be ‘why did they get rid of Ranieri?”’