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LONDON. — Former Spain and Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has emerged as a frontrunner for the vacant Chelsea role, The Sun reports.
With Julian Nagelsmann on gardening leave after being sacked by Bayern Munich, Chelsea would require permission from the German club to speak with the man the Bavarian side parted ways with, and with a potential Champions League semi-final showdown in the offing, that may not be forthcoming.
“Enrique has a number of admirers among the Stamford Bridge hierarchy,” The Sun writes.
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“And he enjoyed most of his success at Barca, where he led an expensively-assembled squad to unprecedented success, as he will be required to do at Chelsea.” While The Times say Chelsea want a new head coach in before their match against Real Madrid next week, the Guardian claims that the club are prepared to wait until the summer given Nagelsmann tops their five-man wishlist — which also includes Enrique, Mauricio Pochettino, Ruben Amorim and Oliver Glasner.
The Guardian writes: “Chelsea’s co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, want the search to be as exhaustive as possible. Responsibility has been handed to the sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, who will assess a number of candidates. Nagelsmann is the early favourite but the former Bayern Munich manager is not certain to land the job.
“The feeling is that Chelsea were too quick to act when they appointed Potter, who proved an unsuitable fit. Boehly and Eghbali led that process, with their sporting structure yet to take shape, and Pochettino was the only other candidate interviewed. More due diligence will be undertaken.”
Meanwhile, Graham Potter has turned down the opportunity to manage Leicester as he would like a break after his Chelsea sacking, the Standard reports.
With Potter and Brendan Rodgers losing their jobs on the same day, the former was quickly linked with a move to Leicester, but he would prefer to wait until the summer before considering his next move.
“An unattractive early option to return to a club in a relegation battle was also a likely reason for the former Brighton coach to say no,” the Standard writes. “The episode is a curious one given Potter and Rodgers share the same agent. Rafael Benitez is the favourite to be appointed at the King Power Stadium after reports in Spain highlighted his interest.” — Eurosport
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