According to sources who spoke to TEAMtalk, the Chelsea board is divided about Roberto de Zerbi’s possible appointment as the team’s next manager. The Blues are also interested in Kieran McKenna, the manager of Ipswich Town.
In an attempt to find a new manager, Chelsea is currently searching for Mauricio Pochettino, who departed the team on Tuesday due to disagreements with the board regarding the club’s future trajectory. Though many names have been brought up, very few have been thoroughly discussed.
The board favors Kieran McKenna, and insiders claim the club would like to talk to him about the opening. The Blues have been working on finding the best candidate to take over since December as they got ready to potentially hire a new manager. They have done this by using data.
However, Brighton is vying with Chelsea and Manchester United for McKenna’s signature, so they will have fierce competition. This implies that Chelsea might need to consider other options, and it has been confirmed by sources that De Zerbi is being considered at Stamford Bridge.
There are some problems, though, as not everyone believes De Zerbi is the right person to take over the team. The board is not entirely convinced that he should take over, in fact.
Nonetheless, Paul Winstanley, the co-sporting director, and Behdad Eghbali, the co-owner, are two of the major players who support De Zerbi.
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The latter will have the last say in the matter, which benefits the Italian coach. There have been rumors that McKenna is just a smokescreen, but that is untrue because the team is prepared to bring in a manager with limited experience who has the potential to develop into one of the best in Europe.
Initial negotiations have taken place with Thomas Frank, who is highly regarded at Chelsea and has been targeted for some time. However, it is currently thought to be difficult to remove Frank from Brentford.
The next Chelsea manager could be McKenna or De Zerbi.
Sebastian Hoeness is regarded as exceptional and has excelled in the data sets that the team uses to determine who will be the next best person to take the helm. However, he has already declined Bayern Munich, so it seems highly unlikely that he will be transferred from Stuttgart.
Enzo Maresca is a player to keep an eye on, and if Chelsea is unable to sign their main targets, he will attract more attention. He checks all the boxes, according to sources, but there are some doubts about taking the step just yet.
Ruben Amorim, who has been connected to West Ham United and Liverpool in the past, is still a contender for the Chelsea position. The Portuguese is willing to speak with Chelsea’s executives.
McKenna, meantime, can choose to interview with Chelsea or accept the Brighton position; however, if he doesn’t end up being the new guy in West London, keep an eye out for De Zerbi, whose name keeps coming up in boardroom conversations.
