Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon has dismissed reports that coach Jose Mourinho is set to quit the English Premier League champions at the end of the season.
On a trip to China this week Kenyon told reporters there was "absolutely no truth" to reports of Mourinho's impending departure to make way for Dutchman Guus Hiddink to replace him.
"This is an old story that is being re-run at the moment. I think that is probably because we are six points behind Manchester United," Kenyon told Tuesday's China Daily.
"Such is the intensity in England for news. But there is absolutely no truth (in the report)."
Kenyon also dismissed speculation about a crisis at the club, who trail leaders Manchester United by six points in the league after a dip in form in recent weeks.
"You've got to look where we are. We're second in the league and behind by six points with arguably the toughest part of the season still to come," he said.
"We qualified top of the group in the Champions League, which, again, was arguably one of the toughest groups. We're in the semi-final of the Carling (League) Cup and through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Reports have emerged of a rift between Portuguese coach Mourinho and top officials at the club, including Kenyon and Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich is reportedly on good terms with Hiddink, the highly rated Russian national coach, whose name has cropped up as a potential replacement for Mourinho.
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