Chelsea have decided to sack Liam Rosenior after just 106 days in the job, and an elite boss is emerging as the top contender to replace him.
Chelsea part company with Liam Rosenior as new era beckons
Chelsea have pulled the trigger on Rosenior, ending his three-and-a-half month reign as head coach less than a day after their humiliating 3-0 defeat at Brighton.
The announcement came on Wednesday afternoon, with Fabrizio Romano confirming the decision, and the club's official statement following shortly after.
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In it, BlueCo acknowledged that "results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards," a fairly understated summary of a catastrophic run that saw the Club World Cup holders lose five consecutive Premier League games without scoring a single goal — a run unmatched by the club since November 1912.
Rosenior had won just 11 of his 23 games in charge and leaves with Chelsea stranded in seventh place, seven points adrift of the top five with European qualification slipping out of reach.
Calum McFarlane has been named as interim manager to see out the remainder of the season.
The search for a permanent appointment is already well underway, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann and Cesc Fabregas already touted as options.
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The Blues have lost their last five Premier League games on the spin.
There is also another option, Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, who is set to leave the Cherries at the end of the season.
Reports suggest that Iraola has already rejected two offers from Crystal Palace, but perhaps the lure of Stamford Bridge could be more tempting for the Spaniard.
That is certainly the hope of BlueCo, as French publication RMC Sport reports.
Indeed, Chelsea have wasted no time in beginning their search for a new permanent manager, with Hawkins writing that the club have already made initial contact with Iraola.
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French reports suggest that Chelsea's shortlist extends beyond Iraola, with former Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic among the other names under consideration.
The full list of targets is understood to include further unnamed options as the club cast a wide net in their search for a successor.
Iraola is the most immediately compelling candidate.
His work at Bournemouth has drawn widespread admiration — a high-press, high-energy system that has consistently punched well above the club's weight, including wins over Arsenal and Man City this season.
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The "elite" tatician guided the Cherries to a best-ever Premier League points total of 56 in 2024/25, and has built further on that platform in the current campaign as Bournemouth compete for a place in Europe.
The complication is that Iraola's future is not exclusively Chelsea's to decide.
Athletic Club in Bilbao, where he spent his entire playing career and made over 500 appearances, are also searching for a new manager this summer following Ernesto Valverde's impending departure.
A return to the Basque Country represents a pull that goes well beyond professional considerations.
Chelsea's ownership group BlueCo have a history of acting quickly in the managerial market, for better or worse.
Rosenior was their fourth permanent manager since taking over in 2022. Whether the approach to Iraola develops into something more concrete will become clearer in the coming days, but the early contact signals that Chelsea view him as their priority target.
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