Thursday, April 26, 2012

Name your price: Chelsea will try to buy Guardiola out of sabbatical if he quits Barca

Pep talk? Chelsea will try to lure Guardiola aboard if he quits Barca
In-demand coach has reportedly said he needs a break from the game but Blues' billionaire owner Abramovich has other ideasRoman Abramovich will open his chequebook in bid to persuade Pep Guardiola to postpone a sabbatical and manage Chelsea.
Guardiola is poised to confirm on Friday that he will be leaving Spanish giants Barcelona, and Chelsea’s owner will lead the rush of clubs hoping to persuade him to abandon plans to take a break from the game.
Abramovich made Guardiola his No 1 target when he sacked Andre Villas-Boas earlier in the season, and will be waiting to offer him a multi-million pound contract to move straight to Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola held talks with Barcelona president Sandro Rossell on Thursday, and is believed to have said he needs to take a sabbatical at the end of a week in which his team of superstars have lost their grip on their European and domestic titles.
He is set to tell his players of his plans on Friday, having promised to sleep on a final decision.
Chelsea’s players want interim boss Roberto Di Matteo to remain in charge, having lead the club to the FA Cup and European Cup finals, but Abramovich has a list of other potential candidates - with Guardiola's name at the top.
However, former Blues boss Jose Mourinho has ended any possibility of him returning to Stamford Bridge.
The Special One wants to stay at Real Madrid and try to win the Champions L
eague next season


Jose Mourinho
Bridge too far: Mourinho wants to stay at Real Madrid not return to Chelsea

Getty

Mourinho has had a strained relationship with the Spanish club’s fans and hierarchy since he arrived from Inter Milan in 2010 and has said he longs for a return to the Premier League.
But the Portuguese, who has already won the Champions League with Porto and Inter, said: “I want to win this title with this team.
"Winning the Copa del Rey last year was important and if we win the league this year that will be important too. Two (Champions League) semi-finals is also not bad but we want more.
“My feeling is that we still have the ability to grow as a team and the club has room to grow too. Clubs have to adapt to the evolution of time and to changing mentalities.
“A fantastic car in the 1980s is not fantastic in the 1990s or the 2000s.
"If the club thinks that I can still give something, and I know that they do, and if the players think so as well, and I think they do, I feel like the empathy is 
increasing,then i will continue.
Roberto Di Matteo

Getty

Di Matteo, who has lost just one of his 15 games in charge so far, is expected to leave the club in the summer to pursue his managerial career if he is not given the job.
He has already been interviewed for the Chelsea role by their technical director, Michael Emenalo.But chief executive Ron Gourlay has refused to endorse his credentials publicly since Tuesday’s dramatic win over Guardiola's Barca in the Champions League semi-finals.