Chelsea are to hold talks with José Mourinho's representative aimed at extending the manager's second spell at Stamford Bridge by a further two years.
Mourinho signed a four-year deal worth around £10m-a-season in the summer of 2013 to return to the club having repaired his relationship with the owner, Roman Abramovich, following the tempestuous end to his first period in charge.
He did not win a trophy last season but, having maintained the side’s development over those first 12 months, will end this campaign having secured Chelsea’s first Premier League title in five years plus the Capital One Cup.
The club had always intended to extend his contract but had been waiting for the pursuit of the Premier League to be resolved, anxious as they were for negotiations not to prove a distraction.
Discussions with Mourinho's agent, Jorge Mendes, should be straightforward with the manager having already made it clear he wants to stay. "I'm not here thinking about my next move because I don't want to have a next move," he said earlier this year. "I'm here to stay. I belong to Chelsea, Chelsea belong to me. I gave a lot to Chelsea in the past but they also gave a lot to me."
Those comments maintained a theme first aired last season, when the 52-year-old had set himself the target of remaining Chelsea’s manager for another 12 years before a potential spell in charge of Portugal. His first spell at the club was curtailed after a little over three years when relations with Abramovich became strained.
Mourinho returned in 2013 keen to embrace the new kind of project on offer at Stamford Bridge – that of a club keen to operate within the restrictions of financial fair play regulations – and has thrived.
The hierarchy have backed him consistently, not least in his regular disputes with the Football Association and match officials, with that faith repaid by the management. “I stay here until Mr Abramovich wants me,” said Mourinho after Sunday’s victory over Crystal Palace won the title. “The day he tells me to go, I go. He is the man who won every title at Chelsea – some players won some, some different managers won others, but Mr Abramovich won them all. If he has replicas made [of all the trophies the side have claimed], he will need a big house.”
Mourinho, whose extended deal would run to 2019, and his players will return to training at Cobham on Thursday before Sunday’s visit of Liverpool. The squad were given a few days off following their title triumph.
