Chelsea v Valencia: Mark Hughes has been identified by senior figures at Chelsea as a leading candidate to take over as manager in the summer if, as expected, Jose Mourinho leaves Stamford Bridge.
The Blackburn Rovers manager, who had a productive three-year spell with Chelsea toward the end of his playing career, has transformed Rovers since taking over from Graeme Souness in September 2004 and will send his side out against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final this month.
The Premiership champions admire the job the 43-year-old has done at Ewood Park, Rovers comfortably avoiding relegation in his first season and finishing sixth last term to qualify for the Uefa Cup.
Rovers rewarded Hughes with a new contract last May, keeping him there until 2009. They would be reluctant to lose him but are hugely appreciative of the job he has done and would concede that a move to Stamford Bridge - although no contact has yet been made - is a significant step up.
Mourinho has a contract until 2010 but there is an acceptance at Chelsea that the breakdown in his relationship with Roman Abramovich will see him leave in the summer.
The prospect of a position vacant at the Premiership's most affluent club must excite Europe's top managers no end. But Mourinho gave pause for thought yesterday about the Chelsea his successor would inherit.
When asked about the chances of Valencia's £25-million demand for the Spain international David Villa being met, the Chelsea manager sent a message about future transfer-market strategies: "He is a great player . . . (but) from what I hear about the price, (Valencia) are asking silly money for him. You see all over the game these days daft prices mentioned. And I can tell you here at Chelsea, it's all over, spending silly money."
This year's transfer-market inertia has not, however, harmed the Premiership champions too much and they are unbeaten in 15 matches, have won the League Cup and continue to contest three other trophies.
His employers continue to cast around for potential replacements but the Portuguese hit back yesterday.
"I think we can win more things until the end of the season," he said. "But even if we don't do it, it would be the kind of season where in the end of it I would have only good words for my players and only good feelings about my commitment."
When asked if everybody at the club, including Abramovich, shared that view of fulfilment Mourinho demurred, saying anybody wanting to know should consult everybody at the club. One way of restoring the smile to the Russian oligarch's face would be to dispatch Valencia tonight, though Mourinho does not consider that easy and warned of their wiles.
"I just told my players the same (thing) I say every Uefa competition when we play against Latins," said Mourinho. "Their mentality is different. The pure English mentality we have in the Premiership (is) where nobody cheats - well, almost nobody - where people try to be correct and respect opponents. You go to Uefa competitions and sometimes it's a bit different."
Certainly Valencia's last outing was unusual, marked out by a mass brawl. The resultant suspensions have debilitated Valencia, who will miss David Navarro and his fellow defender Carlos Marchena.
Meanwhile the sports daily Marca claimed the away dressingroom at Stamford Bridge had been sabotaged, an accusation that threw Mourinho. When asked about the suggestion the locker-room had been reduced to three showers and, scandalously, a single mirror, he appeared bewildered.
Five minutes after the press conference, however, he marched back into the room to proclaim triumphantly: "I'm back, I'm back, I'm back . . . two mirrors, 10 showers." Having well-appointed dressingrooms is at least one thing the next Stamford Bridge manager can be sure of.
Guardian Service
