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ALAN PARDEW believes Jose Mourinho will return to Chelsea if the club come calling.
The legendary manager is available once again after he was sacked by Roma last month.
Chelsea fans have since called for him to return for a third spell as boss, with some wanting John Terry as his assistant.
Mauricio Pochettino is under mounting pressure at Stamford Bridge following Sunday's 4-2 loss to Wolves.
Pardew has now claimed that Mourinho would not hesitate to replace him in the dugout.
He told talkSPORT: "Listen, Jose Mourinho won’t care about (the issues).
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"If he gets the phone call (from Chelsea), he’ll be walking back in."
The pair are old pals dating back to Pardew's time with Newcastle, where he guided the club to the Europa League quarter-finals.
Prior to their return to Europe in 2012, Mourinho wished him good luck over text, with Pardew revealing at the time: "I had a text from Jose Mourinho on Tuesday, 'Wishing you all the best', and it's things like that which make you realise things are good. We are getting noticed.
"I don't usually get texts from him, perhaps the fact we are in Europe and did well last year is part of that.
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"It's nice for everyone that other managers are looking out at us. I think we are doing a good job."
Mourinho has won eight major trophies across his two previous spells with Chelsea, including three league titles.
The Blues were back-to-back Premier League champions during his first tenure from 2004 to 2007 before he returned to the club in 2013.
Mourinho has also been linked with a potential return to Manchester United in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, he is a rumoured candidate to replace Barcelona boss Xavi in the summer.