Jose Mourinho, favourite to be England's next manager, is reported to want building work to restart on the £80m centre

Jose Mourinho could call for the mothballed National Football Centre to be completed if made manager of the England football team.

The controversial former Chelsea manager, one of the bookies’ favourites to become the next manager of the England football team, is said to be “staggered” that the England team has no central base of its own.

Media reports claim that if he was to be named manager, Mourinho would call for construction to resume on the semi-built £80m National Football Centre in Burton-upon-Trent.

Mourinho was closely involved in the construction of Chelsea’s training centre at Cobham, Surrey, and it is thought this could be a "template" for the National Football Centre.

The England team currently use hotel facilities in the Greater London area and existing club grounds when training for home internationals.

The 350-acre National Football Centre, designed by architect BDP, was due to be completed in 2003, but the FA pulled the plug on the project in September 2006.

Although pitches and some basic facilities had been completed, the centre itself was not built.