Carlo Ancelotti to Chelsea: Italian coach would only consider replacing Jose Mourinho on permanent basis

The former Real Madrid coach previously took charge at Stamford Bridge between 2009 and 2011

Former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is willing to return to Chelsea but will only do so on a permanent basis, according to reports.

The club’s incumbent manager Jose Mourinho is under increasing pressure at Stamford Bridge following the club’s wretched start to the season.

Chelsea, the defending Premier League champions, currently sit 15th in the league table and were eliminated from the Capital One Cup by Stoke City via a penalty shoot-out on Tuesday night.

It has been heavily rumoured that Mourinho has lost the confidence of the dressing room and, as The Independent recently revealed, the Portuguese coach has sounded out potential escapes routes to Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale.

During his previous spell at Chelsea between 2009 and 2011, Ancelotti led the club to the Double. He was controversially sacked at the end of his second season, during which Chelsea were runners-up in the league and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and owner Roman Abramovich is said to regret the decision.

According to the Daily Mirror, the Italian would not be interested in an interim role until the end of the season, despite relishing the prospect of taking charge of a club in England again.

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, another candidate to replace the embattled Mourinho, is under contract at his current club until 2020, in a deal worth more than £20m.

It is therefore believed that Chelsea would have to part with a vast sum of compensation to obtain his services which, when combined with the incumbent boss’ severance package, makes a deal unlikely.

Sources within the club say that Mourinho’s camp are insisting on his recently-signed four-year contract being paid up in full, which could tally up to a figure of more than £30m.