Chelsea directors are attempting to broker peace between José Mourinho and Roman Abramovich as the tensions between the pair cast ongoing doubts over the manager’s future at Stamford Bridge.
The main differences between the Portuguese and the owner, which are centred on the lack of funds for new players and the Russian’s belief that changes to the backroom staff may be necessary, are no nearer to being resolved.

 
 
Reports that Mourinho is determined to leave Stamford Bridge were denied by the manager to his employers yesterday and he gave a highly upbeat spin to BBC Radio 5 Live over the weekend. “I love Chelsea and if I love the club and the club loves me, there is a big chance I will stay for a long time,” he said.

Yet there have been clear strains about how to deal with the fact that they trail Manchester United by six points in the Barclays Premiership and what to do with a £30 million reserve in Andriy Shevchenko.

The result of those tensions has been fevered speculation in Spain that Mourinho may be lured to Real Madrid and the disagreements have highlighted just how detailed an interest Abramovich takes in the day-to-day running of Chelsea, the club in which he has invested £450 million.

Abramovich has also built up a network of football advisers and is not afraid to make his own recommendations, particularly after recent struggles on the pitch. His eagerness to recruit a new coach to assist Shevchenko is known to have been one cause of friction with Mourinho. Abramovich has been keen to bring in Avram Grant, the former Israel coach, who is nominally director of football at Portsmouth, where his influence is described as minimal.

Contrary to reports, the departure of Steve Clarke, Mourinho’s assistant, would not automatically have followed Grant’s arrival, but, in any case, Mourinho told Abramovich that he wanted to keep his own staff, who have helped him to the past two championships. He followed that up by saying that if Clarke went, he would go, too, and he does not appear ready to tolerate what Abramovich might see as helpful advice.

On the issue of new recruits, Mourinho is still being told that he will not have any money to spend this month and, in his programme notes on Saturday, he complained again about the lack of resources. “Are you ready to enjoy us playing with 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds and still be chasing prizes?” he asked the supporters.

While Mourinho is not talking publicly of a schism, sources in Portugal have done a good job of making plain his unrest. Chelsea are trying to decipher whether he is posturing, as he has done in previous campaigns, or whether he really does intend to leave.

Communication is not helped by the fact that Abramovich and Mourinho must speak through an interpreter, but Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, Bruce Buck, the chairman, and Eugene Tenenbaum, one of Abramovich’s closest associates, are attempting to bring the hierarchy together and ensure that minds are focused on the chase for four trophies. The outcome, and Mourinho’s future, remain hard to predict, although if this is a battle for control, few get the better of Abramovich.