SOCCER: ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS is close to finalising personal terms to become the next Chelsea manager, the west London club have confirmed. The statement came after Porto officially announced that they had received the €15 million required to trigger his release clause, the 33-year-old having earlier tendered his resignation.
“We note that the release clause of Andre Villas-Boas has been activated. We can at this time confirm our interest in him and hope to reach agreement with him on personal terms and make a further announcement in the near future,” Chelsea said.
While the announcement and Porto’s own statement suggested that they had received the €15 million directly from Villas-Boas, he may have been legally required to trigger the clause, rather than Chelsea, with the owner Roman Abramovich potentially having guaranteed the finance. Reports in Portugal suggested that the delay in Villas-Boas being released was due to an initial unwillingness to pay the full €15 million.
The listed Portuguese club said: “FC Porto, in accordance with Article 248 paragraph 1 of the Securities Code, hereby informs the market they have received from Mr Andre Villas-Boas the amount provided for in the clause to terminate his employment contract.”
The statement added that all that remains to be sorted out was the formalities of the termination of Villas-Boas’s contract before he can officially join Chelsea.
It also emerged that Villas-Boas’s successor as Porto coach, Vitor Pereira, turned down the chance to be the assistant manager at Chelsea for next season. Sources in Porto suggested that Villas-Boas would bring his trainer Jose Mario Rocha and the scout Daniel Sousa with him from Porto.
After Pinto da Costa, the Porto president, confirmed that the release clause money had been paid to his club at around 5pm local time, he hinted that Villas-Boas had been in negotiation with Chelsea over the past few weeks.
“For some time we’ve lined up Vitor Pereira in the eventuality of our coach leaving,” he said. “Of course I didn’t want to lose Andre Villas-Boas. But I’m not angry with him. These things don’t affect me any more. I wish him luck. I am sure he will have great success. I hope he always wins, except against FC Porto.”
After Abramovich opted to pay €56 million to bring Fernando Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea in last January’s transfer window, the Russian billionaire’s decision to pay a €15 million “transfer fee” for Villas-Boas, who has only completed one full season as a head coach and is unproven in any of Europe’s major leagues, indicates Chelsea’s intent to rebuild and challenge next season.
Abramovich may firm up an interest in Porto’s Colombian striker Radamel Falcao once Villas-Boas is in place, with a further €45 million required to force through the sale of the 25-year-old.
Joao Moutinho, Porto’s 24-year-old midfielder, may also be on the Chelsea’s radar though Da Costa added: “We have not received offers for any of our players.”
Villas-Boas guided Porto to the domestic double and the Europa League last season, emulating a feat of Jose Mourinho – who also won a European Cup – whom he had followed to Stamford Bridge in 2004 to work as a scout. Villas-Boas, who was also said to be on Inter’s wanted list, will reportedly be paid around €5.6 million a year.
Guardian Service
