Mourinho wants to honour contract

English FA Cup Semi-final: Sunday Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea Venue: Old Trafford Kick-off: 4.0pm On TV: Sky Sports 1.Jose Mourinho yesterday admitted for the first time that he has received no assurances from the club's board of directors about his Chelsea future.

In a hint of further division, Mourinho praised the support he had received from the chief executive, Peter Kenyon, but would not answer questions about his relationship with the club's owner, Roman Abramovich.

In the face of further speculation linking him to the manager's job at Real Madrid, Mourinho has told the directors he wishes to honour his contract, which runs until 2010. "I have told them I want to stay. I have spoken a lot to Peter Kenyon," Mourinho said.

"Peter Kenyon told me, 'great, I'm very happy with your decision'. Of course (I feel Kenyon is on my side), since the first day."

Yet the Chelsea manager would not say whether he was sure of being at the club next season. Asked why not, he replied: "Nobody told me." The relationship between Mourinho and Abramovich has become so strained that it is widely assumed the Portuguese will leave at the end of the season.

If Chelsea had not enjoyed a revival since January, it is thought Abramovich may already have sacked his outspoken manager. Mourinho, though, appears confident that he can count on support among other influential figures at Chelsea. Board members were mixing in the dressingroom after Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final win over Valencia, and Mourinho's popularity among the players goes without question.

Although regularly linked with major European clubs, most frequently Real Madrid, Mourinho has instructed his agent not to field calls from any other potential employers. "My contract is here. I have forbidden my agent to speak to other clubs, I don't want my name to be linked with other jobs." Mourinho said.

However, Getafe's coach, Bernd Schuster, has claimed Mourinho will be the new Real Madrid manager next season. Schuster has been universally assumed to be the man in the frame for the Madrid job, with the German news agency DPA even claiming he had signed a pre-contract agreement.

But Schuster last night said he has not reached any agreement with Madrid and claimed Mourinho would get the job instead. "Mourinho will win the final battle to go to Real Madrid next season, he has a very good chance," Schuster said. "Of course I do not have any kind of pre-contractual agreement with Real Madrid . . . If I had signed a deal everyone here would be the first people to find out about it, not an agency in Germany."

Mourinho says his desire to remain in England with Chelsea until at least the end of his contract stems from both professional and personal considerations. His children are already registered to remain in their current school next year.

"I am happy in every aspect and families are important," he said. "Some people make professional decisions, but my family is more important. My wife is a perfect manager's wife. She has said to me, 'You coach in London, you coach in China, you coach in Japan, you coach in Portugal, me and the kids, we are with you always.'"

Such is his professed love for English football, Mourinho says that he would find it harder to leave Chelsea than it was to leave Portugal after winning the Champions League with Porto. "I think here is fantastic. I like the structure in the clubs, the typical philosophy in the club, the meaning of the manager, the meaning of the director."

All the uncertainty, however, seems to provide irritation. "There are no problems around Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex (Ferguson) or Rafael Benitez. When you speak about Liverpool it's projects for the future, but in Chelsea everyday it's 'Mourinho stays' or 'Mourinho goes', 'Lampard signs' or 'Lampard doesn't sign'."

Amid all the intrigue, Mourinho is guiding Chelsea towards an unprecedented quadruple and will bid to lead his side into the final of the FA Cup against Blackburn at Old Trafford tomorrow. He has already warned his side about complacency. He said: "The neutrals can be looking for a surprise - for something to happen to Manchester United or Chelsea - for them to lose a semi-final. I don't think many people believe the final can be Watford against Blackburn - but it can be. I want my group to realise that it is possible - in football that is possible. That can help us to be focused and ready for a very difficult game.

"But we want to be in the final very much and I think we will be ready. Normally it is not easy after a big international game where the team played very well and fought against the odds. Valencia was really a great match for us. Normally the next match is not easy. But the next match is also a big match, so I believe we won't lose our motivational concentration, our commitment, our desire and we can go to Wembley."