Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentina manager, is being considered as a possible replacement for Antonio Conte at Chelsea, according to reports.
The Telegraph (h/t The Metro) claim that the former Chile manager was interviewed for the manager’s role at the club before Antonio Conte was brought in two years ago and Sampaoli still has a number of admirers at Stamford Bridge.
It is expected that Chelsea will let go of their current manager, Conte, even after the Italian led us to a Premier League and an FA Cup in the last two years.
The Italian has been at loggerheads with the Chelsea board and another manager who has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge is Maurizio Sarri of Napoli.
The report from the Telegraph also claims that there are no top jobs available for Conte with Julen Lopetegui signing up as the Real Madrid manager.
This means that Roman Abramovich has to either sack him and pay Conte a hefty severance package or keep the Italian for another year and risk the wrath of the players.
Sampaoli would not be a bad move for the Blues
Should Sarri not be the man to take over, Sampaoli would not be the worst choice given that he has achieved a lot while managing less talented teams.
He helped Chile win the Copa America in 2015 and also helped Sevilla to a top-four spot in La Liga. Sampaoli also applies a different brand of football, with his players being more prone to attacking on the counter. We do have the stars to play that sort of football at the Bridge.
However, it will be interesting to see how we approach the Argentine given what happened with Lopetegui, as he was sacked as the Spanish manager after signing with Real Madrid.