Is Chelsea’s Jose obsession behind Villas-Boas move?

Chelsea could be on the verge of appointing Porto coach André Villas-Boas as their new manager. But would the appointment of José Mourinho's protégé be the start of a new era, or simply more proof that, almost four years after his departure, Roman Abramovich and Stamford Bridge can't shake off their adoration of 'The Special One'.

According to reports from Portugal, Chelsea have agreed to pay the whopping £13.2m release clause in the 33-year-old's current contract, luring him to London with the offer of a £4.4m a season salary. Villas-Boas will apparently fly to London this week for talks with the club, though according to one source the Portuguese has already told Porto of his decision to leave for Chelsea.

The news is yet to be confirmed, with no formal word from either club. However the Porto president Pinto da Costa hinted at Villas-Boas' possible departure yesterday, when he said: "if a club pay the €15m and if he wants to leave, FC Porto can't do anything about it".

Already the story has created more questions than answers. What has happened to Guus Hiddink, the frontrunner for the role who's current employers – the Turkish FA – seemed resigned to his departure? Could Hiddink now become Chelsea's sporting director, replacing the departed Frank Arnesen? Or are Hiddink and Villas-Boas set to form a managerial double act, as was rumoured to be the case earlier this month with Hiddink and Mark Hughes?

But perhaps most importantly: Why are Chelsea willing to gamble on a man who has only one season's managerial experience in top flight football? The answer to that one may be found in Chelsea's past as much as in their hopes for the future – the reason is Jose Mourinho.

The careers of Villas-Boas and Mourinho are eerily similar. Both men entered football coaching earlier than most, spending many years being mentored in a foreign country before returning home to Portugal to embark on their managerial career. Mourinho learned the ropes working for Bobby Robson. For Villas-Boas, the mentor was Mourinho himself, who he followed from Porto to Chelsea and Inter, before branching out on his own.

Both men had early success managing some of Portugal's lesser known sides – Mourinho at UD Leiria, Villas-Boas at Académica de Coimbra – before going on make a real name for themselves with domestic and European success at Porto. And both men, it would seem, earned moves to Chelsea on the back of it.

Could it be those similarities that Abramovich has in mind as he finalises the deal that will take Villas-Boas to Stamford Bridge? Mourinho remains the Russian oligarch's most successful manager, even in light of Carlo Ancelotti's record breaking double in the 2009/10 season. It was 'The Special One' who delivered the transformation of Chelsea that Abramovich dreamed of, bringing the club their first ever Premier League title along with five other major honours during his three-year reign.

It is clear that Abramovich wants a 'new Mourinho' and in Villas-Boas he has the coach who is being touted as just that. But there are differences. Unlike Mourinho, Villas-Boas has not won the Champions League, only the Europa League. And at 33 years old, he is no older than the senior players he will need to manage: John Terry (30), Florent Malouda (31), Frank Lampard (33), and Didier Drogba (33).

Chelsea may be offering Villas-Boas an identical salary to Mourinho - £4.4m a season, according to Jornal de Notícias – but they should remember that they will not be getting an identical man. ·