The shortlist for Chelsea’s replacement for Mauricio Pochettino was already being named by insiders almost before the Argentine was out of the door.
Recent days have seen Kieran McKenna put front and centre of the race, with Enzo Maresca of Leicester also being mentioned a lot. Having been linked strongly earlier in the year, Rubem Amorim’s name is nowhere to be seen.
Today saw Sky Sports insider Kaveh Solhekol go on TV to sum up the whole situation as he sees it now:
“Chelsea expect to appoint a new head coach by the end of next week. Leading candidates Thomas Frank, Enzo Maresca and Kieran McKenna. A high-profile mystery name also under consideration. Chelsea have looked at a small number of other names including Sebastian Hoeness and Roberto De Zerbi. New head coach will sign a longer contract than two-year deal Mauricio Pochettino accepted last summer”
Chelsea settle on four-man shortlist to succeed Pochettino. No clear favourite yet as club work through names. Interest in Hoeness and Michel now dropped. #cfchttps://t.co/RkdeVu84DP
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) May 23, 2024
Front runner is conspicuous by his absence
So could Amorim be that man? It does seem to make sense. Just look at the list of coaches listed by Solhekol listed above: Frank, Maresca, McKenna, Hoeness, De Zerbi. Amorim is conspicuous by his absence, given he’s as big a name as is likely to be available and gettable for Chelsea this summer.
Matt Law has clearly heard the same information, and he even used similar words to explain the situation: “there is a currently unknown fourth candidate in the Chelsea job running,” he wrote in his latest piece.
In that piece he mentions all of the same candidates that Solhekol does, and leaves out the same name: Amorim.
Perhaps the biggest clue we’re getting that the Sporting manager is our next boss is the fact he’s being left out of everything so far. As others have noted, it’s the Portuguese Cup final this weekend, and it could well be that we’re avoiding letting anything go public until after that.
So pay close attention come Sunday night…
Amorim could be . But it will good to see Thomas Frank , he has experience managing in premier league and Chelsea FC has assembled young talents to play and become champion again in premier league and Europe . Be competitive and successful team . Whoever they appoint should be the board of directors, the owner and the players should work together to achieve success and be champion. God bless Chelsea FC .
Yeah, I think you’re onto something, SuperFrank. The mystery candidate’s name being kept under wraps because his season has yet to end is about the only logical explanation (in a situation that lacks quite a lot of logic!).