Premier League my number one choice: Ancelotti

Former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has admitted he would love to return to the English Premier League next season.

The Italian, who was sacked by Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, spent two years in charge of Chelsea between 2009 and 2011.

With his former club languishing in the 16th place under Portuguese Jose Mourinho this term, Ancelotti has been linked with a possible return to Stamford Bridge.

But while the 56-year-old claimed that he is eyeing a move back to England, he insisted that he would not take a job this season.

"I had a fantastic experience in France and Spain. The most important thing is to start; to find a club with a good project and be competitive. If it's in England, it's better," Ancelotti was quoted as saying by BBC on Sunday.

"I will stay out until the end of the season and try to find another club next season. Not just in England, it can be in another country, but my idea is not to start now," he said.

Ancelotti, who won the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2010, was also supportive of Mourinho, who he labelled the "best person" for the job.

Chelsea have won just three of their 12 top-flight games so far this year, but the former AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain coach backed the Portuguese to turn things around.

"Chelsea is used to competing at the top level. They have lost a little bit of confidence in their play and arrived at bad results. Slowly they can move on from this situation," he said.

"Mourinho is the best person to manage this because he is the one involved, he knows the situation and the condition of the players and the club took the right decision to stay with Mourinho," Ancelotti said.