Chelsea have reportedly held talks with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim as the club continue their hunt for a replacement for Graham Potter.
Earlier this month, Potter became the second manager to be sacked by Chelsea this season, the Solihull-born manager having only been selected to replace Thomas Tuchel back in September.
During his time at Stamford Bridge, Potter saw his side lose 11 of the 31 games that he took charge of, leaving the club languishing in mid-table and looking highly likely to miss out on the Champions League, and potentially Europe altogether, with goalscoring a major issue for the west London outfit.
The Stamford Bridge outfit have turned to club legend Frank Lampard to see out the rest of the season, despite his previous stint in charge hardly being a roaring success.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has said the club are keen to conduct a ‘thorough process’ before appointing a new head coach, and have already held talks with former Barcelona and Spain boss, Luis Enrique.
Reports in Germany this week have said that former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann has been invited for discussions over the role, and according to the Guardian, Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim has also ‘held talks’ with the club.
The 38-year-old has developed a reputation for being one of Europe’s brightest young coaches, helping Sporting claim the Portuguese league title in 2021, and seeing the club impress in Europe this season, beating Spurs in the Champions League and knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League.
The report insists there is ‘no indication’ that Amorim is the ‘favoured choice’ among the Chelsea hierarchy, while prising him from the Lisbon club would not be easy. The Portuguese has a ‘large release clause’ in his deal at the José Alvalade Stadium, and has already said he is ‘very happy’ at Sporting, and will reportedly ‘choose his next job carefully’.
The report does point to a need for a swift decision ahead of a potential managerial merry-go-round this summer, with PSG and Real Madrid potentially in the market for a new manager, while Premier League rivals Spurs are also on the hunt for a new head coach following the sacking of Antonio Conte.
Spurs are also keen on Chelsea target Nagelsmann, while the Blues are said to be ‘monitoring’ former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso.
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