Jose Mourinho has admitted that Chelsea have lost their "excellence and stability" this year under Thomas Tuchel amid the ongoing debacle at boardroom level over Roman Abramovich.
The Blues have been woefully out of form the past few weeks despite looking assured of a place in the top four throughout the season. There are now growing worries that they could miss out altogether.
Chelsea still sit third in the Premier League table and remain five points ahead of Tottenham with three games to go. But Tuchel's side have won just once in their last five games, including defeats to Arsenal and Everton.
The Gunners now have a real chance of leapfrogging their London rivals - which would represent a real decline in form at Stamford Bridge. Their off-the-field problems have also contributed with Abramovich currently sanctioned by the government.
LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly looks set to take control but it would be hard to argue that the instability has not affected the players. Especially in the transfer window, where out-of-contract players are now destined to leave including Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger while Mourinho has admitted that the club are finding life tough at the moment.
He told Sky Sports : "It's a difficult moment and you can even feel it at the football level because they have lost that level of excellence and stability. But this is at the moment, you know.
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"If you ask me do I have someone I would like to take over my Chelsea? Then yes I have, but I close my mouth. I just know the club has reached such a level that it doesn't matter who it's with, Chelsea will always be Chelsea. Chelsea will always be.
"And my house will always be 200 metres from the stadium and I want to keep listening to the sound of happiness and success and I'm pretty sure it's going to be like that."
Mourinho still has a close bond with Chelsea after two successful spells at the club where he landed three Premier League titles, the FA Cup and three League Cups. Despite joining rivals Manchester United and Tottenham and being involved with personal spats both with the fans and other managers, there remains a deep respect.
Whether the Portuguese coach could end up back at Stamford Bridge in the future remains to be seen with Tuchel still seen as the best man around to take the Blues forward. Incoming owner Boehly does not want to rock the boat further by dismissing the staff and even director Marina Granovskaia is being tipped to stay despite her close links to Abramovich.
