Chelsea have confirmed the departure of Enzo Maresca, with Liam Rosenior emerging as an early candidate to replace him due to the club’s vision for young players and management.
Liam Rosenior is the frontrunner to become Chelsea’s next manager. This comes after Chelsea sacked Enzo Maresca following a rift between the Italian manager and the club.
Maresca’s 18-month reign as Chelsea manager ended just 17 days after he claimed he had endured his worst 48 hours at the club and then failed to appear at the post-match press conference following Tuesday’s draw with Bournemouth.
The change was also prompted by former Leicester manager Maresca’s lack of form, with only one win in seven Premier League games, as he clashed with Chelsea’s medical staff over player availability.
This opens the door for Rosenior, who is quite popular among bookmakers and is already the manager of Strasbourg, which is owned by Chelsea’s parent company Bruco. Rosenior, 41, has a huge following within the Chelsea hierarchy for his style of football, personality and player management style.
read more: The inside story of how Enzo Maresca’s reign at Chelsea unraveled – 5 reasons behind his departureread more: Enzo Maresca leaves club following poor Premier League results, Chelsea issue statement
The former Fulham defender also managed at Derby and Hull, but impressed greatly at Chelsea with his work at Strasbourg.
Despite not being a big name, he is believed to captivate people with his strong communication, personality and obvious success in developing and advocating for young players.
Chelsea are keen to sign Maresca’s replacement as soon as possible, with assistant Willy Caballero likely to take the team on Sunday’s trip to Manchester City.
Other names linked with the job include Como manager Cesc Fabregas, as the former Chelsea midfielder, who enjoyed huge success at Stamford Bridge, including two titles, is not thought to be on the shortlist.
Former Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi, currently in charge of Marseille, will also not start. Maresca was a controversial manager at Chelsea and had a public fallout, so it is unlikely he will follow De Zerbi’s path in the club’s hierarchy.
Manager Rosenior is something of a gamble and will be seen as a contrast to past big-name managers such as Jose Mourinho, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte.
But Chelsea’s philosophy under co-owners Todd Boley and Behadd Egbali, and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart, has always been to champion young players, and their model has been to develop future stars.
That suits Rosenior perfectly, which is why he is currently the frontrunner, although there are others on a very short shortlist.
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