'As of today' - Fabrizio Romano issues update on Chelsea manager search as 'leading candidate' emerges
Chelsea appear to have earmarked their leading candidate to replace Enzo Maresca as head coach.
Chelsea are now in the throws of a managerial search after parting ways with Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day. Maresca and Chelsea’s relationship soured, and that led to the Italian asking to leave, a request the club were happy to grant.
The Blues have had a solid season so far, only three points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, but it seems off-the-field issues are the leading cause of the break-up rather than results.
Chelsea are now pressing ahead with their search, and they intend to conclude the search ‘within days’ as they look to avoid losing ground in the race to land Champions League football. The Blues face Manchester City this weekend, and if they have an interim head coach for that game, they want it to be the only before appointing a new boss.
No decision has been made yet, at least not publicly, but there does seem to be a clear front runner in Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior. Chelsea and Strasbourg share the same owners, and so the Blues have been keeping a close eye. Rosenior has a good track record of working with young players, and he has impressed with Strasbourg, guiding them to European football, and they could qualify again this season.
Romano’s Chelsea managerial update
As Chelsea ponder their big decision, Fabrizio Romany has claimed Rosenior is indeed the clear leading candidate at this stage. He said on his Here We Go podcast: “A manager really, really highly rated by Chelsea is Liam Rosenior, who has been doing really well at Strasbourg. Last season was fantastic, and this season he has continued with the project. He brought them to European football also. Rosenior is a manager who is really appreciated by the players who are there at Strasbourg with him, remember Andrey Santos, who was fantastic at Strasbourg last season.
“He has developed many players very well. It’s the same ownership group, of course, BlueCo, so there will be no problem. Chelsea want to have their new manager as soon as possible, a few days, not weeks, not months. They don’t want a temporary manager, they want a permanent manager. This is the plan. As of today, the leading candidate is Liam Rosenior.”
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