Chelsea meets with Julian Nagelsmann in manager search

• Chelsea search for a new manager has entered a new stage this week
• The Blues have met with former Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann this week
• This comes a week after the club met with former Barcelona and Spain manager Luis Enrique

Julian Nagelsmann has met with Chelsea to explore his potential appointment as their future manager.

Informal negotiations had previously taken place between Nagelsmann’s agents and Chelsea in recent weeks, as the Blues began to compile a shortlist of potential targets, which was initially a long list of names that has now been reduced down to a handful of plausible contenders.

Chelsea directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who are leading the hunt for Graham Potter’s replacement, have now met with Nagelsmann in person to discuss his vision for the club and whether he would be a good match for the Blues’ mission.

Former Barcelona and Spain manager Luis Enrique visited London earlier this month for meetings with Chelsea officials, and it was lately Nagelsmann’s turn to sell himself to the Premier League club.

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According to Chelsea insiders, Nagelsmann and Enrique are still considered the frontrunners for the position. Importantly, those same sources indicate that there is now no favourite.

Former Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann has met with Premier League side Chelsea to discuss taking over the manager-less club in the pre-season. | PHOTO: Sky Sports |

Mauricio Pochettino and Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim are also on Chelsea’s shortlist, the latter of whom was considered when Thomas Tuchel was fired earlier this season, although Nagelsmann and Enrique appear to have stood out.

Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are determined to make the right decision when it comes to their next manager after their first season at Stamford Bridge turned into a nightmare. They are prepared to oversee a lengthy, in-depth process to ensure the best possible candidate is hired.

Demands for summer transfers and plans for some of the club’s young players, including on-loan centre-back Levi Colwill, who has been earmarked for a position in Chelsea’s first team next season after an exceptional loan term with Brighton, are among the issues addressed to all potential managers.