Overnight reports suggest that Paris Saint Germain have included Andre Villas-Boas in their scatter-gun search for a potential successor to Carlo Ancelotti.
French champions PSG are in a tug of war with Real Madrid over the future of manager Ancelotti.
And despite their financial muscle, PSG are unlikely to win a battle in the football arena with Los Blancos just yet.
That being the case, PSG need to find a new manager.
They are believed to have ‘shortlisted’ managers like Jose Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini, Walter Mazzarri, Fabio Capello and Rafael Benitez, but were unable to lure any of them to the Parc des Princes.
Popular Dutchman, Guus Hiddink, is now reportedly PSG’s top target. But while his future at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala seemed touch and go recently, the club believes he will see his contract out there.
Consequently, the English football media suggests that PSG have turned their attention to Villas-Boas, who enhanced his reputation with a good last season at Tottenham Hotspur.
The young Portuguese manager is contracted to the White Hart Lane club, who would be loath to lose him.
And he has already sidestepped one set of rumours, linking him to the manager’s job at Real Madrid.
When it arose that Real would consider employing him, AVB said that he was "very focused on trying to get another year at one club … the same club.
"I have a contract. I was given an opportunity [by Tottenham] and was extremely grateful."
While AVB’s stance is not thought to have changed, it is understood that he has a £10 million release clause in his contract with Spurs.
And sensing that AVB could in fact be an option for them, PSG have reportedly sent their representatives to sound out the Spurs boss’s agent over the possibility of a move to France.
Whether Villas-Boas ditches Spurs for France or not remains to be seen, but what is clear is how Jose Mourinho manages to cause ructions in football, even when he is not directly concerned.
