Give us a job! Jose waiting for clubs to call after agreeing £12.5m pay-off

13 April 2012

Jose Mourinho last night agreed a £12.5million pay-off with Chelsea after declaring his intention to go back to work immediately.

Talking after meeting his trusted coaching lieutenants at the exclusive Wyndham Hotel in Chelsea Harbour, Mourinho, who secured the huge sum after his agent Jorge Mendes flew into London for the negotiations, told Sportsmail: "I am waiting for the phone calls. I want to enjoy my life but I want to work."

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Heartbreak hotel: Mourinho meets his assistants yesterday

And last night Mourinho issued a farewell statement in which he said: "It was a beautiful and rich period of my career. I want to thank all Chelsea FC supporters for what I believe is a never-ending love story."

Earlier Chelsea announced that former Portsmouth coach and Israel manager Avram Grant had been promoted from director of football to replace Mourinho.

The move has caused disquiet in a Chelsea dressing room that believes he contributed to Mourinho's downfall, with Didier Drogba among those most upset.

While the club insisted yesterday that the Portuguese had left "by mutual consent", insiders insisted he had been sacked. Mourinho told journalists to "look up mutual in the dictionary".

His departure came after an extraordinary 24 hours that followed Tuesday night' s 1 - 1 draw with Rosenborg in the Champions League.

A series of stormy meetings at Stamford Bridge were instigated by director Eugene Tenenbaum and attended by Mourinho, Grant, owner Roman Abramovich and chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Mourinho was told his employers were not happy with recent results or the style of football.

When Mourinho, 44, emerged from the meeting, he texted John Terry and Frank Lampard and told them he would be quitting in the morning.

After attending the screening of the club's new documentary film, Blue Revolution, in Fulham, Mourinho returned for a further meeting at Stamford Bridge.

He was told it would be better if he left the club and he in turn agreed to go, along with the Portuguese members of his coaching staff.

Once Mourinho had left, Abramovich, Kenyon, Tenenbaum, chairman Bruce Buck, Grant and senior members of the communications staff held further talks.

The meeting went on into the early hours of yesterday morning, with a statement released at 1.45am.

Mourinho went to Chelsea's training ground at 7.30am yesterday to clear his desk and say an emotional farewell to his players.

Kenyon then addressed the players, with Abramovich in attendance, and the Russian billionaire joined boardroom colleagues in watching Grant and assistant Steve Clarke take training.

Jamie Redknapp could now be invited to join the coaching staff. The former Liverpool and Tottenham captain not only knows Grant through his father, Harry, at Portsmouth, but he is Lampard's cousin and could provide an important link between the dressing room and the coaches.

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Chelsea said: "It is only right that we explain the reasons behind Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea and also recognise the immense contribution he has made to the club and to English football.

"Early this morning we announced that Chelsea and Jose Mourinho had agreed to part company by mutual consent. The key phrase here is that there was mutual agreement. Jose did not resign and he was not sacked.

"What is clear, though, is we had all reached a point where the relationship between the club and Jose had broken down.

"This was despite genuine attempts over several months by all parties to resolve certain differences.

"The reason the decision has been taken is that we believed the breakdown started to impact on the performance of the team and recent results supported this view.

"We did not want this to continue or affect the club further. We must pay tribute to the great job Jose did for Chelsea. He has been the most successful manager the club has known and he rightly deserves that place in our history.

"He will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, whether as the guest of Chelsea or as the manager of another club, and he will be given the reception and respect his position in our history deserves."

Chelsea maintain Grant is a long-term appointment but they are already being linked with a number of high-profile managers.

Jurgen Klinsmann was approached last season, Guus Hiddink remains a possible target as do Sevilla's Juande Ramos and former Chelsea skipper and Monaco coach Didier Deschamps.

A clause in Mourinho's contract — which still had three years to run — may force him to serve gardening leave before he takes his next job.

Yesterday, however, he dismissed the idea of working alongside Luiz Felipe Scolari at the Portuguese FA.

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