Top 5 Premier League Options for Jose Mourinho Should He Get Sacked

It's been a rough past couple of weeks for Jose Mourinho.

There are rumors of dissension in the Real Madrid camp. Spanish paper Marca reported a training ground argument between Mourinho and Sergio Ramos, which then included Iker Casillas.

The conversation between the three was documented word for word in the paper, leading Mourinho to wonder who the leak is in the Real Madrid camp.

Sid Lowe did a wonderful job in The Guardian of recapping the issue and the larger problems that Madrid face.

One thing that Mourinho has always had at the clubs he has coached is player loyalty. But that appears to be in limited supply at the Bernabéu.

When you throw that in with the fact that Mourinho has not been able to defeat Barcelona, his job is certainly under threat from Florentino Perez and the Madrid board.

The club has not been one to stand behind managers in the past.

Jupp Heynckes was sacked after winning a Champions League trophy in 1998. Vicente del Bosque was let go in 2003 despite winning two La Liga crowns and two runner-up finishes in the Champions League. Fabio Capello was sacked after winning the league in 2007.

Suffice it to say, Real Madrid is not a club that accepts even the slightest bit of failure.

Even if Mourinho does manage to win either the Champions League or La Liga, or even both, his failures against Barcelona weigh heavily on his evaluation by the Madrid board.

Either way, he has never been one to stay with a club for a long period of time.

Add that to the fact that Mourinho has made his desire to return to management in England clear, and it is a real possibility the Portugeezer could end up in the Premier League next season.

Should he move, here are his five most likely destinations.

5. Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham could be a very attractive option.

Current manager Harry Redknapp is under fire from the British government for tax evasion charges. Not to mention the fact that he is surely at the top of the FA's list for the next England national team manager.

Tottenham is a bit like Chelsea before Mourinho arrived. Also a London-based club, Spurs has tasted Champions League football and could even be title contenders this year.

The club has undergone quite a transformation since Redknapp arrived. But you have to wonder if maybe he has taken the club as far as he can.

Redknapp has always had a distaste for the tactical side of the game, so it's hard to see someone like him taking Tottenham over the top and reaching the summit of European football.

By taking the England job, Redknapp could leave Spurs at the perfect time for Mourinho to come in and get the club to that next level, much like he did at Chelsea after replacing Claudio Ranieri.

4. Liverpool

Liverpool would have been much higher on the list prior to this week.

Manager Kenny Dalglish was facing criticism following a 3-1 league defeat to Bolton. The loss was combined with the continued poor-to-average form of players that Dalglish has brought in, like Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll.

All of that changed following an aggregate win over Manchester City in the Carling Cup semifinals and a win over Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

It was hard to envision Dalglish getting sacked anyway, as he is arguably the club's second-biggest legend, behind manager Bill Shankly.

The club needs European football to grow the global brand and bring in higher revenues, which can be spent on purchasing world-class players.

Not to mention the fact Liverpool is looking to either build a new stadium or redevelop Anfield, which is going to cost hundreds of millions either way.

Liverpool has built a reputation of hiring managers who are going to ideally stay for a long period of time.

While Jose Mourinho is certainly not of that kind, he could provide a quick fix to get Liverpool into the Champions League now, while a more permanent replacement is either groomed at the club or elsewhere.

3. Manchester United

Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson, despite being European rivals, have a certain amount of respect for one another.

Now in his 25th season at Old Trafford, Ferguson's time at United seems to be drawing to a close. While odds are this isn't his last year, you can't envision him managing the club much longer.

It would appear that there are few managers that could step in to the job and keep the club anywhere near the level that Ferguson has brought them.

Jose Mourinho would have to be one of those.

The only doubt is as to whether Manchester United would want to hire a manager who will probably be gone in three or four years.

United might look to go the Barcelona route and hire a younger manager who had either played with the club or was an assistant under Ferguson.

2. Chelsea

Jose Mourinho is still beloved by the supporters at Stamford Bridge.

Each subsequent manager has been held to the standard set by Mourinho.

He seems to have some unfinished business with the club. Mourinho must surely look at the fact that he never brought a Champions League trophy to Chelsea as one of the few black marks on his résumé.

Current manager Andre Villas-Boas, a Mourinho disciple, has been much maligned in his first season at the club.

Owner Roman Abramovich has never been one to deal well with failure. Previous manager Carlo Ancelotti was sacked one year after winning a Premier League/FA Cup double.

While the £12 million release clause Abramovich had to pay to hire Villas-Boas from Porto is certainly a deterrent in sacking him, the opportunity to hire Mourinho might be too good to pass up.

There are questions, though, as to how strained Abramovich and Mourinho's relationship was by the end of Jose's tenure.

You could also see Abramovich being so stubborn as to never allowing Mourinho to return.

1. Manchester City

Jose Mourinho certainly appears to be a perfect fit for Manchester City.

After getting bounced out of the Carling Cup earlier in the week, City manager Roberto Mancini must now put all of his eggs into the Premier League basket.

Anything less than a league title would most likely mean the axe for the Italian. And while City does sit atop the league table, the Champions League is the ultimate goal.

I was actually kind of surprised that Mancini wasn't sacked after City failed to make it out of the Champions League group stage.

Unfortunately for Mancini, as somewhat evidenced by City's European exit, he has always struggled in continental competitions, whether it be at Lazio or Inter Milan.

So who better to bring in than a manager who has won two Champions League titles and unlocked the Barcelona secret, even if only for a season?