Martin Jol wants to return to the Premier League and he holds the key to the managerial searches at Fulham and Aston Villa, with the London club appearing his more likely destination.
The Dutchman is aware that he features prominently on the shortlists at both clubs, who are in the market for a manager after parting company with Mark Hughes and Gérard Houllier respectively.
Jol, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, was close to moving to Fulham last summer, after Roy Hodgson departed for Liverpool, only for Ajax, his then club, to block the deal.
Fulham have since remained in contact with Jol, which has flattered him, and they hope the personal touch, allied to their ability to grant him a huge salary, will give them the edge.
Villa are believed to have Steve McClaren in their thoughts and the former England manager would jump at the opportunity to join them. But, together with the outsider, Roberto Martínez of Wigan Athletic, McClaren appears to be behind Jol in the reckoning.
There have been suggestions that a candidate who has so far remained under the radar could yet come to the fore at Villa Park, with Owen Coyle of Bolton Wanderers having been mentioned. Coyle, however, has not been approached at this stage.
Villa maintain that Hughes is not under consideration for the vacancy, despite figures within the game seeing more than coincidence in the timing of his resignation from Fulham.
He activated the break clause in his contract on Wednesday night, roughly an hour after Villa had confirmed Houllier's departure and just before the expiry of the clause at midnight. He will leave the club as a free agent on 30 June.
The theory runs that Hughes would not have walked out if he did not have a job to go to and it is understood he thought the Villa job was his. Villa, however, were distinctly unimpressed with the way Hughes handled his departure at Fulham and insist he no longer features in their thoughts.
Hughes's representative, Kia Joorabchian, said his client resigned because Fulham did not match his ambitions and not because he expects to take the Villa job. "One of the things he looked for at the end of the season was to see if there was an ambition for Fulham to go to the next level. Mark left Fulham because he wanted to explore his aspirations. [He] wants to go to a club where he can fight for titles and win championships."
Fulham fear Jol could go to Villa, as it is the bigger club but they will again do their best to take him to Craven Cottage. He was their No1 choice last summer to succeed Hodgson, ahead of Hughes, and showed his intention to join them by agreeing personal terms in principle on a three-year contract. Ajax, though, refused to release him. Fulham's anger at what they perceive to have been a betrayal by Hughes has been best reflected by Fayed. He sent a message to each one of his first-team players to stress that the success of this past season had been a team effort, with the subtext being that Hughes's loss was of no concern.
Fayed, though, is looking forward and he has been inundated with applications for the vacant post. Avram Grant and Chris Hughton have been among the managers to show an interest. Martin O'Neill and McClaren have also been touted.