Man City, Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal, even Liverpool - where's best for Mourinho?

Anyone paying attention to the goings on at the Bernabeu these days wouldn't be surprised if Jose Mourinho's time at Real Madrid is cut short before the end of the season. A combination of Madrid's second place finish in their Champions League group, a 13 point gap behind Barcelona in the league, and increasingly frequent egoistic outbursts from the Portuguese looks certain to spell disaster for the coach. If he does leave, Mourinho will have no shortage of suitors, and is likely to be linked to five of the Premier Leagues biggest clubs, from London to Manchester via Liverpool, but is he really the answer for any of those teams? talkSPORT presents the case against Mourinho...

Mourinho to Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson has given no indication that he aims to retire at the end of this season, so United have no desperate need to look for a new coach in the near future. Even if they do begin the search, they will surely be looking for someone who to not only keep United at the top of the pile domestically, but also improve on Sir Alex's record in Europe. Jose Mourinho may have two Champions League titles to his name, but he has fallen short plenty of times, so when Ferguson does step aside, would United fans perhaps rather take on someone like Pep Guardiola, who managed to win two European titles in the space of three years? There's no guarantee that either would be a consistent success in Europe with the Red Devils, but Mourinho is no guarantee of continental success, as United can prove by knocking Real out in 2013.

Mourinho to Chelsea
They say you should never go back to your former club, but plenty of Chelsea supporters would welcome Jose Mourinho into Stamford Bridge with open arms. With the club looking to weed out the final surviving members of Mourinho's Chelsea squad, however, the Portuguese coach would find a very different team from the one he left. Moreover, it's no secret that Roman Abramovich wants to replicate the football played by Barcelona, and it's hard to argue that Mourinho is the man to do that. The idea that he only plays defensive, boring football is clearly a myth, as demonstrated by his Madrid side, but as brilliant as Real have been at times in recent seasons, they simply don't control games the way Barca do, and rely on quick, counter attacking football rather than death by a thousand cuts as patented by Barca. If he does look to his old flame to bring him the football he seems to desire so much, then Roman Abramovich would be making a mistake, and setting Chelsea two steps back in the process.

Mourinho to Manchester City
Manchester City supporters have been patient in their support of Roberto Mancini throughout his tenure, despite his failings, and in truth the Italian coach probably deserves it. Mancini generally conducts himself in a reasonable, respectable manner, and in turn he has won the respect of City's fans, not least after delivering long overdue success. Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, has made a career out of controversy, varying from his well documented outbursts at referees when playing Barcelona, to the absurd incident of poking Tito Vilanova in the eye, to most recently cornering a journalist after a Real Madrid press conference and berating him for being 'beneath him'. Is that really what City fans want to see week in, week out at their club, in turn damaging their image? Moreover, does Sheikh Mansour want that either, considering that in comparison to some of the other rich owners in football, he has backed stability and Mancini in an effort to portray City as a dignified force in football? To add further weight to the argument, Manchester City's current director of football Txiki Begiristain once interviewed Jose Mourinho for a job. His only condition for the Portuguese? That Mourinho drop the circus act he had rolled out at Porto and Chelsea, and avoid unnecessary confrontation with the media, referees or opponents. Mourinho couldn't agree to the stipulation, and Begiristain gave the job to an unproven young coach instead. It proved to be an inspired decision, as the coach in question was Pep Guardiola. If Roberto Mancini and City do indeed part ways next summer, then Guardiola would be much more fitting of their manner of conduct.

Mourinho to Arsenal
When Arsene Wenger finally decides to leave his position as Arsenal coach, it's believed that he will move to a role 'upstairs' at the club, potentially as a director of football, and that in turn he will maintain some kind of influence in the running of the team. Jose Mourinho made a point of weeding out one such person of influence at Real Madrid, former Madrid player and Sporting Director Jorge Valdano, who was relieved of his post because the Portuguese coach simply refused to share any power at the club. If Mourinho couldn't stomach sharing power with Valdano, then Wenger would be no different, and the result could only be messy for the Gunners. Moreover, would Arsenal fans really be happy with Mourinho's 'win at all costs' mentality, in light of the legacy of attacking principles and attractive football built by Arsene Wenger at the club?

Mourinho at Liverpool
Mourinho is one of the most decorated coaches in the game, so even FSG wanted to get rid of Brendan Rodgers, convincing him to come to Liverpool could be difficult given the reality of what the Reds can realistically aim to achieve in the near future. Even if they did convince Mou, it's hard to see him working well with limited funds at his disposal, and after the money blown under Kenny Dalglish, the Reds would be right to hesitate before parting with huge sums. Worse still, given some of the publicity nightmares Liverpool have had in recent years, bringing in Mourinho could cause havoc at Anfield. Then there's what happens next. Once Mourinho inevitably leaves a club, he doesn't tend to leave a legacy for those who follow him, and with Liverpool now looking to build towards long term success in the future, employing a coach who has no interest in life at a club beyond his tenure makes little sense. Never go to happen from both parties!

Would you take Jose Mourinho at your club for short term success, even if it meant long term failure? Leave a comment below and let us know...