Luis Enrique is increasingly an outsider for the Chelsea job, with Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino and potentially another name set to make the final round of talks.
Former Spain manager Enrique is understood to no longer be a leading candidate after face-to-face talks with Chelsea in London.
Nagelsmann is also known to have been interviewed, while former Tottenham manager Pochettino was spoken to last year before Graham Potter was appointed.
Ex-Bayern Munich boss Nagelsmann in particular is thought to be a frontrunner for the role in the eyes of Chelsea sporting directors and at least one member of the board.
But Chelsea insist the process remains completely open, and that an appointment is not imminent and no candidate is preferred at this stage.
Enrique being set to miss out on the Chelsea job is a boost for Tottenham, who are interested in speaking to him about their managerial vacancy.
Chelsea are also thought to be keen on Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim, Napoli’s Luciano Spalletti, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner and former River Plate manager Marcelo Gallardo.
It remains unclear who else will join Nagelsmann and Pochettino in the next round and whether those coaches are interested in taking the interest further.
Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid on Tuesday and Blues players are set to lose out in millions in wages.
Several members of the squad have clauses in their contracts which mean their wages are reduced should the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.
With Chelsea facing Financial Fair Play [FFP] scrutiny, the clauses were interested to act as a safety net for the club. The club insist they continue to comply with FFP rules.
Chelsea are 17 points behind fourth-placed Newcastle and are closer to bottom side Southampton in the table. They are unlikely even to qualify for either the Europa League or Europa Conference League.
