Managers will be the most sought after commodity of the summer.

A few pointed remarks from Jose Mourinho have always been enough to generate a commotion, but his likely departure from Real Madrid will be central to a series of moves that will involve some of European football's leading clubs. After losing in the Champions League semi-final to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening, Mourinho dropped enough hints that he would be leaving Spain for England to underpin a slew of theories.

They all involve the same central characters and institutions: Mourinho, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Rafa Benitez, Carlo Ancelotti and Paris St Germain. The events that follow as a consequence are open to different interpretations, and speculation, but it is clear enough that some significant changes will unfold in the coming months. As Mourinho would expect, the focus begins with him.

"In England I am loved," he said after Real Madrid lost 4-3 on aggregate to Dortmund. "I know I am loved by some clubs, especially one." It is widely accepted that Mourinho wishes to return to Chelsea, and there have been extensive negotiations between his advisors and those of the club's owner, Roman Abramovich. Some of the players have openly discussed Mourinho's return, and Abramovich's view has softened since he felt that the Portuguese manager was too disruptive, and too imposing, a presence when he engineered his departure in September 2007.

Yet a tension already exists. Mourinho remains dismissive of several Stamford Bridge executives, including Michael Emenalo, the technical director, and wants full control of the club's transfer strategy. There is an inevitable power saga developing and Chelsea's discussions with representatives of Manuel Pellegrini, the Malaga head coach, have not remained secret.

None the less, it remains most likely that Mourinho will return to Stamford Bridge. He has already raised a list of signing targets – including Radamel Falcao, the Atletico Madrid striker – and his family want to move back to London. Chelsea need a spell of reinvigoration, despite winning last season's Champions League and holding a 2-1 advantage over Basle going into the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tonight at Stamford Bridge.

The two Manchester clubs have indulged in a local rivalry for the Barclays Premier League title and the return of Mourinho will restore a sense of brash assertiveness to the Londoners. There are several players at Real Madrid who will not bemoan his departure – Mourinho's reigns tend to end in either glory, acrimony, or a confusion of both – and the club will act swiftly. The expectation in Spain is that Ancelotti will leave PSG, despite a likely second French title this weekend.

Ancelotti, in his phlegmatic nature and shrewd ability to manage the executives above him as much as his players, is considered an ideal fit for a Real side that does not need a radical overhaul this summer. Once the Italian leaves Paris, though, the predictions become more speculative. PSG have long wanted to bring Arsene Wenger back to France, and the Arsenal manager is already a confidante of the club's Qatari owners. At a press conference last week, Wenger insisted that he would honour his contract at the Emirates, which runs for another season, but PSG will continue to lobby him, particularly since they are keen to emphasise the club's French identity.

Mourinho has also been using PSG for leverage, since he would be another target for the club's hierarchy, but Benitez, too, could end up in France. He wants to go to Real Madrid or stay in England, but the prolonged spell out of the game after he left Internazionale in 2010 means that he is eager to move straight to another job when his interim position at Stamford Bridge ends.

There could be other openings in England, since Real Madrid are also thought to be impressed by the work of Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham Hotspur, and David Moyes looks as though he will be leaving Everton at the end of this season, with the Scot hoping to move to the Bundesliga (he has already been linked with Schalke).

Manchester City will also make a decision about Roberto Mancini's future in the summer. It is not a certainty that the Italian will be replaced but there is a desire to implement an overarching strategy at the club, which includes the playing philosophy of the team as well as recruitment. There is also an intention to present City as the epitome of the contemporary football club, with social initiatives involving the local community, but also a corporate image that does not involve the kind of competitive tension that some managers employ in their dealings with their club's executives.

Ferran Soriano, the chief executive, and Txiki Begiristain, the director of football, have also spoken to Pelligrini's agent and are known to be considering other options. City will not move for a disruptive figure like Mourinho, but could consider Joachim Loew, who is also a candidate to replace Wenger should the Frenchman decide to leave Arsenal. That would then free up the German national team job for Jupp Heynckes, who will be replaced by Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich at the end of this season.

The reality is likely to be a more complicated chain of events, but the departure of Mourinho from Madrid will certainly create a sense of turmoil across Europe this summer. That may include Scotland, since Neil Lennon was linked to the potential vacancy at Everton last month.