Pride the Only Barrier to Mourinho's Return at the Bridge

Chelsea are in luck. Just when they have a vacancy for a manager there is one available who is already among the elite, with his peak years possibly still before him. He is also nicely rested after an eight-month sabbatical. The trouble is, of course, that it was Chelsea who got rid of him. Pride is the single barrier to the reappointment of Jose Mourinho, but it is a high one.

The Portuguese and Roman Abramovich cooperated in the building of it after they had ceased to work together at Stamford Bridge. We are led to believe, for instance, that Mourinho would love to hold the post at Chelsea again one day while being advised that this is unlikely to happen in the immediate future.

It is suggested, with a straight face, that a deal with Internazionale is too far advanced to be abandoned. That is absurd since nothing in football is inevitable while the formalities are still to be completed. In any case, the situation at the Italian club is tangled and claims of an agreement in principle with Mourinho do not address all the issues.

After winning three Serie A titles in a row, Roberto Mancini would be happy to move on to a new challenge. The president, Massimo Moratti, is equally content to replace him. The situation remains unresolved because Mancini is short of suitors and disinclined to resign. Sacking him would come at a prohibitive price to Moratti since winning the league triggered a clause, according to reports, that adds another season to his contract. The new expiry date is in 2012.

Paying off Mancini would come at a cost of some £16m if he had to be paid in full. Abramovich could, of course, please all parties by offering him the post at Chelsea. That is feasible but the Russian would then take on a manager whose Inter side never got beyond the quarter-finals in the Champions League.

Mourinho is indubitably the more impressive candidate. It does not seem that Abramovich will bring him back, assuming the Portuguese would listen to such an offer in the first place. It would be an admission he had bungled last September. Can an oligarch do contrition? Abramovich ought at least to regret following the course that he did.

In their natural appreciation of a man who has spent approaching £600m on Chelsea, supporters did not rebel, but the owner's preference for Avram Grant was remarkable. No other elite club in Europe would have opted for him. The Israeli's CV contains some achievements, but even had he won the Champions League Chelsea fans would still not have classed him as the equal of, say, Sir Alex Ferguson. Or, for that matter, Mourinho.

While Abramovich has been chastened, Mourinho must be in a period of reflection as well. There has not been a clamor to recruit him among the leading clubs in Europe. Real Madrid had no cause to sack Bernd Schuster, Barcelona settled on Pep Guardiola and Milan kept faith with Carlo Ancelotti. Inter are virtually Mourinho's sole hope.

Abramovich could come up with a plausible figure. Speculation over Guus Hiddink has not ceased completely, Frank Rijkaard is available, Luiz Felipe Scolari has the correct status and Marcello Lippi has to get back to work eventually. Nonetheless, the rehabilitation of Mourinho would galvanize Chelsea as no other event could. The prospect also intrigues people with no love of the club.

What would happen next? Mourinho would have to show that he is flexible enough to take the battle to the Premier League and Champions League winners. Manchester United not only outscored Chelsea last season but also had the better defensive record. Ferguson reminded everyone that flair has its pragmatic worth in taking the initiative away from the opposition.

It would be absorbing to discover if Mourinho, normally fanatical in his detailed planning, could grant more liberty to his gifted players. Having bought very well for Chelsea on his arrival in 2004, there would be a fascination in observing how he carried out the essential remodeling of the current squad.

Mourinho would also have to resign himself to managing Abramovich as well as the side, since the means have to be identified to cope with an employer who wishes to influence football matters. As owners go, however, the Russian is far from unique in that respect and a similar situation could as readily arise for Mourinho in La Liga or Serie A.

Abramovich gave his Portuguese former manager a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti in February. No matter what happens this time, these two people have unfinished business with one another.