Jose Mourinho would build his England team around underfire Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard should he land Steve McClaren's job.

"Nothing has changed," a source close to Mourinho told the Observer yesterday. "If something happened to McClaren and the FA invited Jose to do the job he would be very interested in taking it on. It is a real possibility."

A major attraction of the England position is that it would allow his family to return to London, where they had settled well and recently purchased a house. The reluctance of his two children to leave the city played a significant role in Mourinho's ultimately ill-fated decision to remain at Chelsea last summer despite the multiple problems of the 2006-07 season.

Lampard has been the target of criticism recently and was left out of McClaren's starting XI in Russia. The midfielder, who was booed by England fans last weekend, received a message from Mourinho after the defeat assuring him he would be central to the manager's plans should he take charge.