Sven-Goran Eriksson is turning down jobs in the hope of succeeding Jose Mourinho as Chelsea's manager in the close season. The former England manager believes the current intrigue at Stamford Bridge may lead to a vacancy and he has cleared his diary in case a call comes from the Premiership champions.

Eriksson met Marseille's prospective new owner, Jack Kachkar, last month and they discussed what he might contribute to the French club. But the Swede also informed the Canadian businessman that he would not sign a deal with any employer while there was the possibility of a post becoming available at one of the top Champions League clubs.

There has been no contact from Chelsea, who are determined that - irrespective of the differences between their manager and some of their senior hierarchy - a concerted effort must be made to win the four competitions in which they are still competing. Nevertheless, Eriksson has been sufficiently encouraged by the behind-the-scenes spats to set his sights on Stamford Bridge and is said to consider the situation there "very interesting".

He would apparently work within Chelsea's current structure whereby, increasingly, players are identified for, and delivered to, the manager. But he is not restricting himself to Chelsea - he let it be known that he is also monitoring the situations at Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Fabio Capello's position at the Bernabeu appears to have become more precarious after he made an abusive gesture to a section of the Madrid crowd on Sunday. The Italian coach has been supported in his reforms of the squad by Ramon Calderon, but the president's own position at the Bernabeu is not guaranteed while a judicial inquiry is in progress into his victory in the presidential election six months ago.

Although Barcelona might seem a model of stability under Frank Rijkaard - who guided them to Champions League triumph last season - it is rumoured that the Dutchman wants to take a sabbatical from May and Eriksson would welcome an approach from Camp Nou.

However, of the three, it is apparently Chelsea who are regarded by Eriksson as offering the greatest chance. The 58-year-old Swede remains a close acquaintance of the agent Pini Zahavi, the pair having attended a match together at Maccabi Haifa in October, and it is known that the Israeli has a direct line to Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich.

Zahavi introduced Eriksson to Abramovich at the Russian's London residence a few days after Abramovich completed the purchase of Chelsea in July 2003.

Eriksson's association with Chelsea did not end there - a subsequent meeting with the chief executive, Peter Kenyon, in March 2004 prompted the English FA to hand the Swede a four-year contract to tie him to the England manager's position.

Eriksson's severance agreement means he will still be earning £6,500 a day from the Soho Square payroll until July.

Capello, last night appeared to go back on his insistence that David Beckham would not play for the club again when he admitted a change of heart remained possible. The Italian coach had vowed that Beckham would not play for Madrid again after agreeing a £128 million deal to join LA Galaxy.

"A player that has such an important contract with another club can't play for us. He will train with us, but he is not going to play," Capello said only five days ago.

Last night, however, his stance had changed. Asked if Beckham could play a part as Madrid push for silverware this season, as Henrik Larsson did at Barcelona last year having already announced his departure, Capello replied: "You can't rule anything out. Every now and again you have to be a bit flexible.

"Beckham is a great professional, I have always said that. He is training with desire, as ever. The whole squad is training together and there is no problem. Opinions can change, things can be seen in a different way. A lot depends on the player too."

Capello was not the only one to soften his message, with Calderon turning up at Real's Valdebebas HQ to personally apologise for his outburst against the squad in which he had called Beckham an "actor".

Capello said Calderon had met the players after training to explain his comments. "It was a good meeting, an important one," he said. "The club captains will give a news conference about it on Friday. I am sure the players are not happy about some things, but they trained brilliantly today. They are professionals."

The reality is that Beckham remains unlikely to play during the final six months of his Madrid contract. When the squad list was released before tonight's Copa del Rey match with Real Betis, his name was again missing and Capello's remarks appear to signal a cessation of hostilities rather than a return to the side for the Englishman.