Jose Mourinho believes he will take over at Man United & John Terry to manage Chelsea?

Mourinho

Jose Mourinho for Manchester United: The lead in The Sun by Neil Custis tells us “Jose Mourinho believes he will succeed Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. The Special One wants to take over as Manchester United boss at the end of next season – and reckons he will get the job. SunSport revealed last month that Real Madrid manager Mourinho, 48, is set on ‘coming home’ to the Premier League. He has told close pals he believes the way will be open for him in the summer of 2012. The problem would come if Fergie decides to go out on a high this year with a second Treble triumph.”

Manchester United’s treble charge: Steven Howard predicts Sir Alex Ferguson’s “finest hour.” “Alex Ferguson is approaching the climax of what could well be his greatest season at Old Trafford. Victory over Manchester City at Wembley tomorrow and another Double looks on the cards. And a record-breaking 19th Manchester United title to finally overhaul Liverpool. Should he then guide United past Schalke and into the Champions League Final few will argue that this season’s achievements have been his finest in all his 25 years at Old Trafford. Yes, surpassing even the Treble of 1999. Even if United fail to beat Barcelona or Real Madrid.”

Robbie Savage predicts a treble for United. “They have already won the league, and they will have enough to take care of Schalke in Europe and Bolton or Stoke in the Cup final. That puts them one game away from what Sir Alex Ferguson once said would never be done again – the treble. In a single game against Barcelona, they can do it. They will be in the unfamiliar position of underdogs with nothing to lose. It would be a remarkable achievement, even more remarkable when you look at this current United side against the class of 1999. Wayne Rooney for Dwight Yorke and Rio Ferdinand for Jaap Stam are the only players who would get in. As good as Edwin van der Sar, Patrice Evra and Nani are, they are not Peter Schmeichel, Denis Irwin and David Beckham.”

The Guardian is one of a number of papers to have a “Big Interview” with Paul Scholes. “The list of those who have since described Scholes as the best footballer in England includes, among others, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Marcello Lippi and Edgar Davids. Or ask about Scholes at Manchester City. Only three other United players – Sir Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona and Joe Spence – have bettered Scholes’s tally of seven goals against the old enemy. The last was a stoppage-time winner at Eastlands last season. ‘It was perfect,’ Scholes remembers. ‘That was a major highlight of my career, one of the best things I have ever done.’ He has struggled, by his own admission, to cope with being on the edges of the team this season (not starting either of the Champions League ties against Chelsea). ‘It is very difficult to accept [not playing every game] but the time comes when you know that you can’t. You want to think like a 25-year-old, you like to think that you can play every game. But you can’t. You just have to make sure you are ready for the odd 20 minutes here and there. It’s hard to make that adjustment. It is not nice.’”

Michael Walker spices up the Champions League semi. “Manchester United tried to sign Raul ‘this season’ according to the Spanish striker’s Schalke team-mate Christoph Metzelder. Metzelder was formerly at Real Madrid with Raul. Instead both men left the Bernabeu for Schalke, United’s Champions League semi-final opponents.”

James Lawton waxes lyrical over Ryan Giggs. “If Giggs is a genius – and certainly there is a case to be made – it is in his ability to re-make himself, physically and mentally, with each new challenge. You could not have reasonably imagined, in his early days as a flying, corkscrewing winger, that in another two decades he would have a huge hand in the three goals that carried United into the semi-finals of the European Cup, goals that were so much the inventions of a man who had nursed his body and his mind through so many of the obstacles thrown up by all the years. For Ferguson, he is both a gift and a huge challenge. In this season of all seasons he has to simply eke out the last of a great player. He has to draw the line between ambition and inevitable fatigue.”

Manchester City: Ian Herbert speaks with David Platt ahead of the Wembley semi. “The footballing journey of David Platt has been a long and cosmopolitan one but the club name at the top of the opposition team sheet at Wembley tomorrow evening will take him back to where it all began. Manchester United also happened to be the opponents in the late summer of 1981 when Platt, turning out for his home-town team of Chadderton, impressed so much that the club invited him to train with them two nights a week, for a year. It was the beginning of a playing career that would take Platt to Aston Villa, England and on to the Italian career in which he formed the 20-year friendship with Roberto Mancini which brought the two men back together last May.”

The FA Cup: Matt Barlow leads the Daily Mail football coverage with the news that “Ticket prices for next month’s FA Cup final have smashed through the £100 barrier for the first time, sparking outrage among supporters. Prices for the most expensive tickets to English football’s end-of-season showpiece will cost £115, an increase of 22 per cent on last season, despite the financial crisis gripping the nation.”

Hiddink snubs Chelsea: Mark Irwin reports “Guus Hiddink has ruled out a dramatic Chelsea comeback. Roman Abramovich wants the Dutchman to replace Carlo Ancelotti next season – but Hiddink, 64, insists he will honour his contract as coach of the Turkish national team. And that has wrecked any ideas of a return to the club he steered to FA Cup glory during his three months in charge at the Bridge in 2009. Hiddink combined the roles of Chelsea boss and Russian coach as a stop-gap after the sacking of Phil Scolari. But he has told Chelsea owner and close friend Abramovich he cannot occupy two jobs again.”