The 2023/24 season has been another miserable one for Chelsea Football Club, with a defeat in the League Cup final, a multitude of poor performances in the Premier League and very little reason to be optimistic ahead of their FA Cup Semi-Final against Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino, the man who was supposed to lead this young Blues side to a better future, has looked out of his depth from the word go and has failed to build anything resembling a cohesive team in west London.
Unfortunately for the Argentine manager, it looks like his time in the dugout could be coming to an end, as recent reports have linked the club to someone who could well become Chelsea's next José Mourinho.
Latest Chelsea manager news
According to a recent report from Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, Chelsea are now "monitoring" the status of Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim "should things not progress further with Pochettino in (the) summer" and, given how poor the team has been recently, it looks like things won't be progressing with the former Tottenham Hotspur boss.
Plettenberg has also revealed that, alongside the well-publicised interest from Liverpool, FC Barcelona are another side who hold the Sporting man in high regard and could challenge for his signature in a few months.
If the Blues were to push on and hire the Portuguese coach, they would have to pay around €10m – £9m – to activate his release clause, per Plettenberg.
It would represent a sizable investment in the up-and-coming coach, but given his track record in Lisbon and what happened the last time the Blues hired a much-sought-after coach from Portugal, it might well prove worth it.
How Amorim could be Chelsea's Jose 2.0
The first thing to note is that, no, Amorim and Mourinho do not play similar styles of football with their teams. The former prefers to employ a 3-4-3 formation and play an attacking brand of football, whereas the latter has become synonymous with practical and defensive football that prioritizes three points above all else.
However, three similarities could see the Sporting man compared to the former Blues boss, whether he likes it or not, should he take the hot seat at Stamford Bridge.
The first is rather simple; both men cut their teeth in Portugal's first tier. The former Chelsea great managed Porto for two and a half years before moving to London, while the Blues' current target has been in charge of the Leões since March 2020.
The next similarity is that both men would be very young in managerial terms when securing their big move to the Premier League. Jose arrived at the Bridge at just 41 years old, while the "incredible" Sporting boss, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, will still be 39 in the summer.
Lastly, both managers were and are, in Amorim's case, incredibly sought-after. In 2004, the 'special one' was coming off a miraculous Champions League triumph with Porto, which made him one of the hottest commodities in world football at the time. Likewise, the Lisbon-born man of the moment won the league title with Sporting at just 36 years old and has another three League Cups and a Super Cup to his name just for good measure.
So, while the similarities are certainly there, would Chelsea get an upgrade on Pochettino if they pursued their interest? Well, based on their most recent jobs, it would certainly appear so.
In his 40 games as Blues boss, the 52-year-old has overseen 20 wins, eight draws, and 12 defeats while averaging a rather paltry 1.70 points per game.
Games
203
40
Wins
142
20
Draws
30
8
Losses
31
12
Points per Game
2.25
1.70
In comparison, in 203 games as Sporting boss, his potential replacement has racked up 142 wins, 30 draws and 31 defeats while averaging an impressive 2.25 points per game.
Ultimately, it would be hard to describe Chelsea's situation as anything other than a disaster at the moment. While it certainly isn't entirely Pochettino's fault, he hasn't been good enough, and so if Todd Boehly and Co can hire Amorim to replace him in the summer, they should.
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That said, he'll have to be comfortable walking in the footsteps of a managerial giant.