José Mourinho favourite to replace sacked André Villas-Boas at Chelsea

Villas-Boas was dismissed within 24 hours of his side's Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion after being summoned to a meeting at the club's training ground by Roman Abramovich, the director Eugene Tenenbaum and the chief executive, Ron Gourlay.

The 34-year-old took training in the morning with a shadow squad of those who had not featured at The Hawthorns, and was left bitterly disappointed by the news, having believed until recently that he would be allowed to see through a three-year "project" aimed at overhauling the club.

He departs eight months and 40 games into a £4.5m-a-year contract and is now technically on gardening leave, with Internazionale expected to sound him out as a successor to Claudio Ranieri at San Siro. The first-team fitness coach, José Mário Rocha, and Daniel Sousa, the head opposition scout, are also expected to leave. The assistant first-team coach, Roberto Di Matteo, will oversee the side for the rest of the season. The former West Bromwich manager's first game in charge will be against Birmingham City on Tuesday in an FA Cup fifth-round replay at St Andrew's.

The Italian, who is out of contract in the summer, could yet be joined on the coaching staff by his compatriot, Gianfranco Zola, on a short-term basis with Chelsea having opted against offering Rafael Benítez an 18-month contract to take up the reins. Instead, Di Matteo's involvement will now buy the Chelsea hierarchy time to identify a sixth permanent manager in five years, a process that will include exploring the possible availability of either Guardiola or Mourinho, who could both depart Spain in the summer.

Guardiola has yet to agree a contract extension at Barça and remains Abramovich's dream appointment, though whether he would be prepared to move to London and work at a club who have proved so trigger-happy with its coaching staff remains to be seen.

The possibility of Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge, where he claimed two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup during a glittering if fractious three-season spell, would galvanise the support. The Real Madrid manager, who has led his team clear at the top of La Liga this term, has declared his intention to return to the Premier League and was photographed last week looking at properties in London. However, while his relationship with Abramovich has improved in recent years, he is likely to seek assurances he would be granted complete control on footballing matters, including transfer policy, if he is to return.

Whether the owner would grant him that leeway is open to question, with Chelsea now left to count the cost of another failed regime. A fee of £13.3m had been paid to Porto to secure Villas-Boas's services last summer, an amount that took the compensation outlay on managers fired or hired to a staggering £64m in a little over four years. While recent results had made Villas-Boas's departure inevitable, with Chelsea fifth in the league and three points outside the Champions League qualification places, there is intense frustration among the hierarchy at the part the players appeared to play in the manager's downfall.

Abramovich, Tenenbaum and Gourlay were joined by the technical director, Michael Emenalo, in addressing the first-team squad in one of the changing rooms on Sunday, when their dissatisfaction with the squad's performances were made clear. Those present were warned in no uncertain terms to step up their efforts to rescue the current campaign after mustering only five wins in 16 matches, with the owner – who had personally recruited Villas-Boas last summer – indicating he holds them as responsible as the manager for a disappointing season. The recognition that the squad needs to be overhauled remains, with senior players, many of whom were resistant to Villas-Boas's attempts to reduce their involvement in the side, still expected to depart in the summer.

The midfielder Juan Mata posted a message on his Facebook page, saying: "It hasn't been an easy day for those who, like me, are part of Chelsea. I would like to thank the manager and wish him luck. We have to keep working hard and better days will come. Thanks for your support!"

Villas-Boas did not attend that meeting but did linger at the training ground to bid farewell to staff and some of the players. The anaemic manner of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at The Hawthorns convinced the hierarchy that radical action was required now if fourth place was still to be claimed.

"The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early," read a Chelsea statement. "Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season."