Chelsea have stepped up their efforts to hire a new manager by inviting Julian Nagelsmann to London to present his ideas for the club.
The Blues are hoping to appoint a new long-term manager this summer after sacking Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter in the 2022/23 season. Club legend Frank Lampard is currently in charge of the team as caretaker until the end of the campaign, but is unlikely to be given the role on a full-time basis.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley and technical director Christopher Vivell are the group leading the search for a new boss. Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique have emerged as the leading contenders for the role.
Enrique visited London earlier this month to discuss the job and impress upon the club his thoughts for the future at Chelsea. Lampard was then appointed until the end of the season and has since taken charge of defeats by Wolves and Real Madrid – results which have heightened the sense of urgency around the next managerial appointment.
Nagelsmann was sacked by Bayern Munich on March 24 and replaced by Tuchel amid fractious relations behind the scenes at the German giants. But he could be set for a swift return, with Chelsea reaching out to invite him to give a presentation to the club’s executives.
The 35-year-old has a potential advantage over former Spain and Barcelona boss Enrique due to his existing relationship with Vivell. The duo worked together at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig and are known to have a good relationship.
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Vivell joined Chelsea as technical director in December after leaving Leipzig, where he worked in the club's recruitment and scouting departments, where he worked with Nagelsmann between 2019 and 2021, having moved from Hoffenheim – the young manager’s first club.
Chelsea initially compiled a longlist of contenders for the managerial position, with Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi, Ruben Amorim, Marco Silva and Xabi Alonso among those considered. But out-of-work duo Enrique and Nagelsmann have since emerged from the pack as leading contenders.
Both are out of work and both have impressive CVs, having worked at the highest level, in Spain and Germany respectively. Enrique has been without a job since stepping down as Spain manager following their disappointing defeat by Morocco on penalties in the last 16 of the World Cup.
Chelsea need to get the next managerial appointment right, having endured a miserable season, due in part to the poor decision-making at the top. The Blues are 11th in the Premier League, 17 points off the top four, and facing a difficult task in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid after being beaten 2-0 in Spain.
Boehly’s consortium have spent upwards of £550million on new players since taking over from Roman Abramovich in May, without much reward. Tuchel was sacked in September and replaced by Potter, who lasted less than seven months, winning just 12 of his 31 games in charge.
