Chelsea have plenty of work to do behind the scenes when the 2025/26 Premier League season comes to an end.
The current campaign has been underwhelming with the Blues currently eighth in the Premier League table and in danger of missing out on European competition completely next season.
Calum McFarlane is now in his second stint as caretaker manager with Chelsea having had three different head coaches this season.
Enzo Maresca was sacked at the beginning of January, just a year-and-a-half into a five-year contract.
Chelsea Can Still End The Season Successfully
He was replaced by Liam Rosenior – after McFarlane had been in caretaker charge for a week – but the former Strasbourg boss lasted just 104 days before also being handed his marching orders.
McFarlane is back in charge until the end of the campaign, tasked with steadying the ship and asked to go and end a dismal season with silverware, with an FA Cup final against Manchester City to come in May.
Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital will conduct a thorough process to name a new boss in the summer, someone to oversee the transfer window ahead of the new 2026/27 season, but who will it be?
GIVEMESPORT understands there are six names in the frame to replace Rosenior on a permanent basis, with senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs running the rule over all of them.
He said: “Several names are expected to make the list, amongst them, Andoni Iraola, who is a leading candidate and Marco Silva, who still hasn’t signed a new deal at Fulham, he’s on Chelsea’s list as well.
“Xabi Alonso is a free agent and another name to watch, and intriguingly shares the same agent as Andoni Iraola, so Chelsea can kill two birds with one stone there.
“Then there’s a few other candidates that are worth noting. We don’t yet know whether they’re going to be part of the process, but Julian Nagelsmann was interviewed before Mauricio Pochettino got the job. Interestingly, at the time, my sources told me that Nagelsmann wasn’t that sold on the Chelsea project and Chelsea were not that convinced by the strength of Nagelsmann’s interview.
“Sources had said that he basically wanted to be headhunted and not be part of a thorough process, which is exactly what Chelsea are going to do now.
“Then Filipe Luis and also Cesc Fabregas are names appreciated by Chelsea. Whether or not they’re deemed to have enough experience to form part of this process remains to be seen, and certainly from Como’s perspective, their hope, if not belief, is that Fabregas will stay.”
Former Chelsea Manager Not In The Running
Jose Mourinho Claims Two Players Deserve Ballon d’Or – Snubs Dembele & Lamine Yamal
There is another, rather big name that has also been linked with a return to Chelsea – Jose Mourinho.
However, it appears that Mourinho is the top choice of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to return to the hotseat at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jacobs added: “What I can tell you there is that Mourinho is the leading candidate for Real Madrid, at least as far as Florentino Perez is concerned.
“Chelsea sources have always downplayed the possibility of a return, and if Mourinho’s not to go to Real Madrid, then we should also keep an eye on the Portugal national team because Roberto Martinez is expected to depart once the season ends.”
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