Liam Rosenior is on the brink of becoming Chelsea’s new manager after flying into London on Sunday to finalize his appointment as Enzo Maresca’s successor. While Chelsea were playing against Manchester City, club officials were busy completing the necessary paperwork to secure Rosenior as their next head coach. Amid growing friction with the club’s leadership, Maresca resigned from his role on Thursday, leaving Under-21s manager Callum MacFarlane in charge of the team ahead of the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Rosenior impressed during his time at Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg under the BlueCo ownership structure and quickly emerged as the front-runner for the position. The 41-year-old former Hull City manager led Strasbourg to a 1-1 stalemate with Nice in Ligue 1 on Saturday before returning home with the team.
During post-match media duties, he addressed speculation surrounding a move to Stamford Bridge and acknowledged his ambition to “work at the highest level possible”.
According to L’Equipe, Rosenior left France on Sunday afternoon on a plane for the capital, along with Strasbourg president Mark Keller and sporting director David Weir. The player did not take part in Strasbourg’s Monday training session and is expected to start his job at Chelsea in time for Wednesday night’s Premier League game against Fulham.
According to reports, Rosseniol’s substitutes Philippe Coelho and Jean-Marc Quentz have been offered to oversee training at Strasbourg in his absence, while current Minnesota United manager Eric Ramsey, who shares an agent with Rosseniol, is seen as the frontrunner to take over permanently.
“I love this group, I love this club probably more than many people realize,” Rosenior said in response to a question about Chelsea on Saturday night. “I’ve had the best 18 months of my professional career, of course I’ve made a lot of good friends and I have a lot of respect for the people here.
“Things are not concrete. There may be interest, but we will see. And at the end of the day, I want to focus on Strasbourg and not anything else at the moment. We haven’t talked about anything at the moment. I know they (Chelsea) are looking for a manager.”
“Obviously, it’s our sister club. Other than that, I really want to focus on this club. This club has given me so many good memories, so many good times. The players, the fans, a great city. As I said before, if something happens, it will happen. At the moment nothing is happening and that’s all I can say on this matter.”
“I think every coach wants to work at the highest possible level. I’ve never been afraid to say that and I work at a very high level here. Strasbourg is a huge club. It’s a world-class club. It’s a winning football club.”
“But if you’re working for your club and you’re only thinking about other clubs, you’re not doing your job for the club. I know there’s a lot of speculation. I don’t know unless I’m a foreigner, but at the same time I want to give my best to the players. I want to give my best to this club.”
