Paulo Ferreira sees Jose Mourinho ‘in control for many years’ at Chelsea

Former Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira expects his compatriot Jose Mourinho to remain in charge at Stamford Bridge for "a long, long time".

The Portuguese manager, 52, is leading the West London club towards a third Premier League title under his leadership, and first since he began his second stint at Stamford Bridge; two championships arrived during his original tenure a decade ago.

Retired right-back Ferreira, who followed Mourinho from FC Porto in 2004 before spending nine years at Chelsea, believes his countryman’s desire to succeed with the club knows no bounds.

He said: “When you are at this club you want to win titles and for next season it will be the same. The motivation is to win trophies.

“He wants to succeed and do well, for how long I do not know. I think everyone at the club wants him to stay for a long, long time.

“I think everyone would like to see him in control for many years but in football, anything can happen.”

While Mourinho remains the toast of SW6 and has two years on his latest Chelsea contract, another recently returned club favourite could be on his way out this summer.

Didier Drogba has scored three league goals since rejoining on a one-year contract last July, but Ferreira hopes the Ivorian striker, now 37, gets to experience a 10th season with Chelsea.

“I would love to see him stay for another season but I don’t know what he wants or what the club wants from him,” Ferreira said

“Let’s see what happens at the end of the season. He has the motivation to keep winning and keep playing and I want to hear what happens at the end of the season.”

Ferreira, 36, has been kept busy representing Chelsea as their European youth league ambassador but is also taking his coaching badges.

He has not ruled out pursuing a role within the club’s training set-up at Cobham.

He added: “I’ve just finished my [Uefa] B licence so I need two more years to finish, I hope.

“At the moment I’m just concentrating on finishing and then let’s see what happens. It’s just important to have it and then, who knows?”

Paulo Ferreira sees Jose Mourinho ‘in control for many years’ at Chelsea

The former Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira says he expects Jose Mourinho to remain a fixture at Chelsea while adding that he 'would love to see' Didier Drogba stick around.