Are Chelsea going cold on Mourinho?

That may still happen but Abramovich remains sceptical about Mourinho's style of football, as well as his confrontational personality. After meeting him in a London hotel last week, just hours after Monaco put Chelsea out of the Champions League, Abramovich conveyed his doubts to his aides.

By all accounts, the meeting was cordial and courteous but the Russian was distracted throughout by his gut instinct that he was meeting the wrong man. Only two weeks previously he was so restless after the team's 3-1 defeat in the first leg of the semi-final that he left his yacht, which was moored in the Monte Carlo marina, and headed for the team hotel.

On arrival, he was in a 'highly agitated' state, according to some of those who saw him appear in the dining room, where the players were picking over a meal and the reasons why they had lost the match. Abramovich sat down beside Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Frank Lampard and began to ask questions through his translator about what had gone wrong.

They tried to answer as best they could but Abramovich had already made up his mind. The difference between Monaco and Chelsea, he believed, was Deschamps. The following day he began to make his own enquiries about the career and personality of the former France captain, who had spent an unhappy season at Chelsea as a player in 1999-2000.

Why, he asked, were Chelsea not considering Deschamps to replace Ranieri when his team had so dramatically eliminated Real in the quarter-finals and held a commanding position after one leg of the semi-final?

Abramovich was given reassurances about Mourinho's talent and reminded of his achievements in the game. But news filtered back to him that Jorge Mendes, the coach's appointed representative and friend, had been offering him to other Premiership clubs despite the fact that Chelsea had made their interest in him very clear.

Liverpool were first offered his services in February but said they had no intention of sacking Gerard Houllier. An associate of Mendes made a further call only last week, claiming that Mourinho ' would prefer Liverpool to Chelsea'.

That, and an incredible approach made to Manchester United on the basis that they might be disposing of Sir Alex Ferguson, is viewed by Abramovich as a betrayal of trust and has angered him to the point where he is seriously considering other options.

In Deschamps he sees a coach who has taken a club on the brink of financial extinction three years ago and turned them into one of the most exciting sides in Europe. Their 5-3 aggregate win against his own multi-million pound team was impressive enough but beyond the disappointment of defeat, the Russian was deeply impressed by the style of football played by Monaco.

What would Deschamps be capable of if he had unlimited funds available?

Furthermore, Kenyon has admitted that his employer's taste in football is for thrills and flair over dull efficiency, and Monaco under Deschamps are more Real than Ranieri.

A guarantee that Morientes would be his first signing might act as a further incentive for Deschamps. Morientes is under contract to Madrid for another two years but a disagreement with Real president Florentino Perez means there is no chance of a return to the Bernabeu.

He is available for around £8.6million and is firmly within Chelsea's sights - and, of course, their budget.