It is unclear who will take over from the decorated manager, with former coach Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola and former Tottenham Hotspur coach Juande Ramos the early contenders.
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“The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea”, the club said in the statement.
The Blues have lost nine out of their 16 games so far this season, and Mourinho’s last match in charge was a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City.
His three-month spell from February 2009, after the departure of Luiz Felipe Scolari, saw Chelsea win the FA Cup and finish third in the Premier League.
Yet the defeats have piled up, leading players Diego Costa and Eden Hazard have at times looked distracted and there has been talk of dressing room unrest at the club. It’s a far, far better decision than the one made the last time we went interim shopping, and hired the soon-to-be unemployed-as-well Rafa Benitez. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the 2013-14 campaign but previous year he failed to guide the team to a Champions League place, having to settle for sixth.
Although Mourinho has won every honour in English soccer, he never managed to win a European trophy in either of his two spells at Chelsea.
“One of my best qualities is to read the game for my players and I feel like my work was betrayed”, Mourinho told Sky Sports.
Mourinho won back-to-back titles for Chelsea during his first spell in charge from 2004-07 before falling out of favour with the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
The only positive for Chelsea this season has been qualification for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 where they will face French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Mourinho is the fifth Premier League manager to be sacked this season, and arguably the most high-profile, at least since former Liverpool coach Brendan Rogers was fired and replaced with Jurgen Klopp in October.
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She eventually left on 22 September and is now taking legal action against Mourinho and the Blues.
