Former Bayern Munich star Lothar Matthaus has made it perfectly clear that he would love Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to take over at the club after current head coach Pep Guardiola steps down, the Daily Mail reports.
The Portuguese tactician has long been regarded, alongside Guardiola, as one of the finest managers in world football, having won a whole host of honours in a glittering career, including three Premier League titles with Chelsea, and the Champions League with both Porto (2004) and Inter Milan (2010).
Mourinho is now in his second spell in charge of Chelsea, and Matthaus believes it may be hard to persuade the manager to leave Stamford Bridge after just signing a new contract, although he is quoted in the Mail as saying that everything he has heard about him makes him think he’d be ideal for Bayern.
“Mourinho would be the right boss for Bayern,” said Matthaus. “Mourinho is more straight, more clean.
“Mourinho tells players things straight to their faces, whether they are in the first 11 or on the bench.
“I only hear good things about Mourinho and I have that information directly from his players.
“Pep’s contract expires in 2016. But if he was sure about what he wants, he would sign now. My feeling is that he will leave.
“I know Mourinho has just agreed a new contract with Chelsea and that he feels that the club is his living room.”
SEE ALSO:
Eva Carneiro affair
Chelsea Higuain: 5 alternatives to overrated & overpriced Napoli man, with Barcelona ace, two Arsenal targets & Harry Kane
Top ten transfer rumours of the week in terms of probability: Stones to Man Utd or Chelsea? Plus likely Liverpool deal
Guardiola has not quite replicated the success he enjoyed at previous club Barcelona since taking over at the Allianz Arena, although his side have maintained their dominance in the Bundesliga with two league titles in a row.
Still, exits at the semi-final stage of the Champions League for two years running have been the cause of some disappointment, as the Spaniard won Europe’s biggest club competition twice in just four years at the Nou Camp. To date, he has wholly failed to replicate these achievements in Germany.
Having won titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, it would perhaps be little surprise to see Mourinho test himself in Germany later in his career, though he seems to be building a fine team at Chelsea at the moment, which may prove to be a long-term project.