Chelsea set to name Mourinho replacement

Jose Mourinho today left Chelsea in a move which has shocked football – but the London club are already believed to be preparing to name a replacement.

The club’s current director of football Avram Grant and former captain Didier Deschamps have been linked with the job after it was announced in the early hours of this morning that Mourinho had left by “mutual consent”.

Chelsea are expected to confirm later today who will be in charge for Sunday’s Premier League clash with champions Manchester United.

Grant, 51, would be favourite to take the job temporarily but reports suggest the former Israel manager will be appointed as Mourinho’s permanent successor.

Mourinho is understood to have contacted five senior players yesterday afternoon to inform them of his departure and by midnight the entire first team squad had learned he was going.

The club’s chief executive Peter Kenyon, chairman Bruce Buck, and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s key aide, Eugene Tenenbaum, were called to an emergency meeting at Stamford Bridge last night to discuss the emerging crisis.

Mourinho’s departure was eventually confirmed when they posted a statement on the club’s website.

The short statement read: “Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent.”

Former players and managers said they feared Chelsea could now struggle after the departure of the self-proclaimed ’Special One’.

“I’m absolutely astounded at what’s happened,” former Chelsea captain Ray Wilkins told Sky Sports News.

Another former Chelsea player, Gavin Peacock, told BBC Radio Five Live: “I think that half the team will have been affected badly and it’s going to be hard to get that team spirit that Jose managed to manufacture.”

Many of Chelsea’s staff and players had last night been enjoying a relaxing evening at a Fulham Broadway cinema as they watched a screening of ’Blue Revolution’ – a new documentary about the Abramovich years.

But senior players like captain John Terry and England midfielder Frank Lampard were absent and the remainder, except a reluctant England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, refused to talk to the media.

Mourinho also attended the evening but also ignored the waiting media and looked decidedly glum.

PA Sport understands the impasse between Mourinho and Abramovich came to a head after their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa earlier this month.

Mourinho had been at loggerheads with the Russian since their disagreement over the lack of funds to sign players during the transfer window last January.

Mourinho’s reluctance to play Andriy Shevchenko and Abramovich’s desire to bring in Grant from Portsmouth to work with the misfiring striker only served to heighten the tension.

The former Israel coach was recruited in the summer as director of football and Mourinho is understood to have simmered ever since.

Grant, who up until now has held a place on the Chelsea board, arrived at Stamford Bridge after a spell as technical director at Portsmouth.

Previously he guided Israel to the brink of World Cup qualification in 2006 and he has also coached Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa.

Deschamps, who captained France to glory in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, is also one of the names in the frame to replace Mourinho.

The Frenchman began his coaching career with Monaco before joining Juventus but he resigned from the Italian club in May and is currently unemployed.

He spent a year with Chelsea as a player in 1999-2000 – winning the FA Cup.

Mourinho’s departure will be followed by his backroom staff although assistant Steve Clarke is expected to remain on the payroll for now.

The Portuguese – whose £5.2m a year contract was due to expire in 2010 - has been dismayed by the constant watering down of his authority.

Abramovich’s decision to recruit Dane Frank Arnesen from Tottenham as director of scouting and youth development in September 2005 was compounded further by the arrival of Grant.

But their dismal start to the new Barclays Premier League campaign and their 1-1 draw with Rosenborg in the Champions League on Tuesday only served to heighten the problems and Mourinho decided he had reached the end of the road.

He won every domestic honour in England in the summer of 2004 but the Champions League eluded him.

Although he won the trophy with Porto in 2003, Chelsea were twice knocked out of the competition at the semi-final stage by Liverpool during his tenure.