<!-- font resizer -->
Real Madrid will try to lure Jose Mourinho to the
Bernabeu after Arsene Wenger declared he will be staying at
Arsenal. Spanish TV reported last night Florentino Perez will now
target the former Chelsea boss if he wins the election to become
the club's new president next month.
Mourinho has just won the Scudetto in his first season with
Inter Milan but he has divided their fans with his abrasive manner
and failed in the Champions League.
The former Porto manager, who has now won the title in three
different countries, has always stated his desire to manage in
Spain. He was Bobby Robson's assistant at Barcelona before taking
up management back in his native Portugal.
Mourinho has been promised funding to spend in the transfer
market this summer by Inter president Massimo Moratti to mount a
new campaign in Europe next season.
He is ready to take advantage of Chelsea's need for a summer
rebuild by attempting to finally land old favourite Ricardo
Carvalho.
San Siro chief Mourinho, who has already targeted Blues
midfielder John Obi Mikel, noted outgoing boss Guus Hiddink's
admission that the Chelsea "house" must be refurbished by lowering
the average age of the squad.
And former Chelsea chief Mourinho's response will be to table a
£6million bid for the 31-year-old Portuguese defender. The
injury-hit Carvalho was one of Mourinho's first signings at
Stamford Bridge, arriving in 2004 in a £19.8m move from Porto.
Although Carvalho fought to establish himself in the back
division, with William Gallas initially preferred to him as John
Terry's defensive partner, he became a mainstay of the team under
Mourinho and then Avram Grant.
But this season Carvalho has been restricted to just 16 starts
by a succession of injuries and found himself relegated behind Alex
in Hiddink's defensive hierarchy.