Would Barcelona welcome Mourinho with open arms?

Mendes and Laporta met on Wednesday for lunch – coincidence or just good friends?

Would Barcelona’s fans accept a return to the Nou Camp from Jose Mourinho? According to a survey done by Spanish sports newspaper Marca, the answer is apparently yes. Around 53% said they would welcome Mourinho back to the club which had become a thorn in his side whilst manager of Real Madrid.

It was a tough time for Mourinho in Spain where he didn’t win much with “Los Blancos” and was a time full of controversy – who could ever forget the famous eye gouging moment involving Tito Vilanova?

To make the rumours more interesting, ex Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who’s busy telling everyone he may present his candidature for the job again, has apparently “had lunch” with Jorge Mendes, Mourinho’s manager.

Laporta alleges that it was a “lunch between two friends” when asked about the “meeting” that took place on Wednesday in a roadside restaurant called Filandón on the outskirtts of Madrid. It could have been an under the radar affair except that their cover was blown as ex Atlético Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente and his agent were also having lunch there.

Johan Cruyff also had something to say about the “meeting” and said that “he couldn’t imagine Laporta bringing back Mourinho”. However Mendes and the ex Barça president go way back to the time when Laporta was at the helm of the Catalan giants with the Portuguese businessman involved in more than one transfer to the Nou Camp. He was even involved in the Mourinho-Laporta talks to sound out the current Chelsea manager for a possible manager’s role which was eventually given to Pep Guardiola.

Love him or hate him, Mourinho’s name is beginning to sound out around the Nou Camp again. What do you think, if Laporta gets the presidency back, and it looks like he will, should he bring back Mourinho to FC Barcelona?