Chelsea were reportedly rejected by one manager even before Mauricio Pochettino’s departure.
Mauricio Pochettino left Chelsea on Tuesday by mutual consent, the club confirmed.
The Blues are now on the lookout for a new manager and have been linked with the likes of Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna and Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the latter is currently the frontrunner to become the next Chelsea manager.
However, it appears that the Italian may not have always been at the top of the Blues’ list.
Why Chelsea have been rejected by one manager
Journalist Simon Phillips has claimed that a source has told him that Chelsea made contact with Julen Lopetegui about succeeding Pochettino two weeks ago.
Chelsea did not seem to get anywhere with the former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, though.
On his Substack, Phillips wrote: “Two weeks ago Chelsea made contact with Julen Lopetegui but he said no because he was going to West Ham.”
It has been reported that Hansi Flick has also rejected a proposal from the Blues.
Julen Lopetegui would have been a better option than Kieran McKenna and Enzo Maresca
Lopetegui has managed in the Premier League before after his time at Wolves and has coached both Real Madrid and the Spain national team.
He has won the Europa League as well so has quite a good CV.
AC Milan legend Filippo Galli has described the 57-year-old’s football as “spectacular”, so there is much to like about him.
Ultimately, Lopetegui would be a much safer bet than the likes of McKenna and Maresca, who are coming from the Championship.
They looked to have missed the boat on that one, though, and will have to turn to McKenna, Maresca or someone else, with Lopetegui set to be confirmed as the new West Ham manager.
The good news is that it is thought that it will take days rather than weeks for Chelsea to hire someone, which should help with their pre-season.
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