Ancelotti asks to leave PSG for Real Madrid

The departure of Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho appeared to move a step closer when Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed he had asked to leave the French champions.

Ancelotti has been widely tipped as the next man to occupy the Real Madrid dugout should Mourinho leave the club and the news coming from France appears to indicate that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has asked him to take over at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next season, reports Xinhua.

The story began to break earlier Sunday when PSG's director of football Leonardo confirmed that "Carlos has asked to be allowed to go to Madrid but we want him to stay. We have not taken a decision, we have spoken to Carlo and we have to look at things."

Leonardo's words were then confirmed by PSG's owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

"We have spoken to Ancelotti and he has asked to be allowed to leave but that is not possible as he has a contract and he has to respect it. It is his problem, it is not our problem. We have offered him another year on the contract on top of the year he has left," said Al-Khelaifi.

Given that Ancelotti will probably not have asked to leave his current club without an offer from Real Madrid, it can therefore be taken for granted that the club has assumed that Mourinho will be leaving them at the end of the current campaign.

Indeed it has been rumoured in some sections of the Spanish press that the club could even sack Mourinho this week and the defeat against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey will turn out to be his last game in-charge.

Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo were both sent off in that game and the club is reportedly very unhappy that neither went up to receive their runners-up medal from King Juan Carlos of Spain.

The atmosphere around the club has got increasingly tense in the past 48 hours and such a move is a possibility that has to be taken seriously as it would help ease the tension that is certain to exist should Mourinho sit in the dugout at the Bernabeu again.

The coach who was brought in to end Barcelona's dominance in Spain and win Real Madrid's 10th Champions League now looks certain to leave with the players and the majority of fans against him and leaving his successor with a major job ahead of him while Mourinho returns to a Chelsea where the fans await him with open arms.