Chelsea hold ‘multiple meetings’ with 50-year-old manager who has managed London rivals since 2018

Chelsea hold multiple meetings with their favourite manager to replace Pochettino

Chelsea’s search for a new manager seems ready to get more intense over the next few days, as another piece of information comes to light that Chelsea have already met with the 50-year-old Brentford manager on many occasions in the hopes of replacing Mauricio Pochettino.

With the sudden departure of their beloved boss Mauricio Pochettino last week, Chelsea has been in search for a potential successor.  Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna, and Roberto De Zerbi appear to be the main four names in the frame to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

After turning things around in the second part of the 2023–2024 season and having a successful campaign finale, Todd Boehly and his squad decided to sack the Argentinian manager.

 According to Christian Falk, via Fabrizio Romano’s daily briefing, Chelsea have already held several meetings with Frank, who also had some interest from Bayern Munich, with the Bees boss sure to be in contention to become the Blues’ next manager.

Frank has been guiding and managing Brentford since 2018, and certainly looks likely to manage the club another season. But the 50-year-old has not ruled out the option of moving elsewhere. Recently in an interview with The Athletic, Frank said:

“I will probably be on that touchline on August 17. I think that will happen. I’m happy here. I’ve said it many times and I mean it. It’s close to the perfect football life. I’m not in any rush or searching to do something else but I also think I’ve learned in life I’m open for what can happen.”

“I can see myself being here for a long period. Can I stay here for seven more years? I don’t know and that’s not that I don’t love Brentford, it’s just: do I want to try something different?”

With the exception of De Zerbi, every manager on Chelsea’s shortlist will be in the Premier League the next year, whether or not they take over for Mauricio Pochettino. While McKenna and Maresca were promoted to the Championship to play for Ipswich Town and Leicester City, respectively, Frank had another successful season at Brentford.

More Chelsea news

• Chelsea lay down £35m pay or leave ultimatum for Champions League finalist
• Fabrizio Romano says English club’s manager is ‘super keen’ on Chelsea job after Pochettino exit
• Serie A club set to demand ‘amost double’ of Al-Hilal’s potential £85m offer for ‘champion’ Chelsea target

The Blues are keen to secure a deal for a new manager as soon as possible. They have a lot of other priorities as well on their target this summer. With fixing this managerial dilemma as soon as possible they will be able to move on towards other necessary transfer.