The Internazionale coach Jose Mourinho is hoping to tempt his former player Ricardo Carvalho away from Chelsea to join him in Serie A and claims he has been told by friends at Stamford Bridge that Carlo Ancelotti will be in charge there next season.

Speculation has been rife in Italy and England that Ancelotti will leave Milan for Chelsea in the summer, with the Rossoneri possibly set to make an announcement on his future on Monday.

"My friends at Chelsea tell me it will be Carlo," Mourinho said. "Some players [at Chelsea] are asking me the typical question: 'Gaffer, will he be good for us, do you think it will be positive?' I responded that he seems to me to be a very well prepared coach, very close to his players who can create an atmosphere of great empathy with his players and if he adapts well to Chelsea, he has a group of players who are waiting for a good coach in order to win because it is a squad that wants to win."

Mourinho, who left Chelsea in 2007 after three years at the helm, believes Ancelotti should jump at the chance.

He added: "If Carlo goes or not it is his problem and if he goes to Chelsea, I will wish him all the best. And if he asks my opinion, I will tell him that with these players and with this club, he should not think too much because it is a great adventure for him."

Should Ancelotti become Chelsea's next manager, one player who may be going in the opposite direction is Carvalho, who is coveted by Mourinho. The Portugal defender, who played under his compatriot at Porto and Chelsea, was linked to Inter after the Portuguese took over last season but a deal never materialised.

"Carvalho is one of the best central defenders in the world," Mourinho said. "A year ago it was impossible to think of him. Now I think it is."

Mourinho added that Inter were also interested in signing the Dutch club FC Twente Enschede's 20-year-old Austrian winger Marko Arnautovic.