Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is set to land a massive £25million pay-off after leaving Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese coach departed the club by mutual consent on Thursday and said an emotional goodbye to the players at the club's Cobham training ground in Surrey.

Chelsea moved swiftly to replace Mourinho with director of football Avram Grant, who will take charge of team affairs on a permanent basis along with assistant Steve Clarke.

Clarke, who was also number two to Mourinho, will remain at the club but the Portuguese coach's backroom staff of Baltemar Brito and Rui Faria, head opposition scout Andre Villas and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro, have also departed.

Now lawyers are in detailed negotiations about a severance package for Mourinho, who still had another three years left on his £5.2million-a-year deal.

It is understood the financial package will include confidentiality clauses that prevent Mourinho from divulging any club secrets.

Last March, Mourinho taunted the club by saying he would walk away from the club as a "millionaire" if Chelsea wanted to get rid of him.

In the build-up to their home game with Porto in the Champions League, the former Chelsea chief also boasted that he would not be out of work for long.

Mourinho is now being tipped to take over the Portuguese national side, but in the meantime Chelsea's players continued their preparations for Sunday's game against Manchester United in the Premier League.

Mourinho's emotional farewell at Cobham is understood to have left striker Didier Drogba in tears.

Drogba, whose goals won Chelsea the Carling and FA Cups last season, had a close relationship with Mourinho.

The Ivorian scored 33 goals last season and, after striking a late winner against Manchester United to win the FA Cup at Wembley, he sprinted off the pitch to thank the Chelsea coach for making him one of the best strikers in the world.

Grant has a hard act to follow as Mourinho won everything in English football in his three years in charge.

But while the reaction to Mourinho's departure and Grant's elevation has been mixed, the club provided the Israeli and Clarke with their full backing.

A club statement read: "Chelsea can confirm that Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will be in charge of the first team.

"The club is delighted that in Avram we have an experienced man who can come in immediately at this difficult time to help deliver our objectives.

"In Steve we have a Chelsea man and he will be a crucial part of the management team going forward. Avram and Steve have our full confidence and support."

Grant's appointment will come as no surprise to many of the club's fans. He has a close relationship with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and eventually moved to Chelsea from Portsmouth after stiff opposition from Mourinho.

Abramovich saw Grant as the man to get the best out of misfiring striker Andriy Shevchenko but Mourinho insisted that he had no influence on team affairs.

Grant spent his first year in England living in Harry Redknapp's shadow at Portsmouth but became the go-between and co-ordinator of long-term strategy, reporting to chief executive Peter Kenyon at Stamford Bridge.

The role - which reportedly earned him £800,000 a year - also included a seat on the club's board.

Grant, who is married to actress Tzofit, certainly knows how to network and also undoubtedly has the ability to charm the most dogmatic of managers.

Upon Grant's arrival at Chelsea a defensive Mourinho warned: "He must not interfere with the power I have in relation to my job."

At Portsmouth, Grant took up the position of technical director in June 2006 and soon won the glowing praise of boss Redknapp.

"I've found [him] to be very knowledgeable, an absolute gentleman and a nice person to have at the club - he has got a good knowledge of the game and of foreign players," said Redknapp.

That knowledge stemmed from a lifetime of studying football tactics and systems.

Grant began coaching at the age of 19 having never played the game professionally.

He won the youth championship with Hapoel Petach Tikva and was then appointed to coach the senior team, becoming the youngest manager in the Israeli top division.

Grant then moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv, guiding the club to a first league title in 13 years, before taking over at the helm of Israel's glamour club, Maccabi Haifa, where he won two championships.

The national team subsequently beckoned and Grant entered the history books as Israel's youngest manager.

His record split opinion, however, as Israel failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup despite remaining unbeaten in a group with the Republic of Ireland, France and Switzerland.

He resigned in November 2005 because of the Israeli football association's reluctance to open contract talks.

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