Chelsea want new manager appointed for Fulham clash as Liam Rosenior arrives for interview | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca successor could take charge of west London derby, but Strasbourg need to secure a replacement first

Rosenior flew from France to London on Sunday afternoon to continue talks with Chelsea in person. He is currently in charge of Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, who are owned by the same BlueCo consortium that also run Chelsea.

Chelsea have had their Under-21 manager Calum McFarlane in charge of the first team on a caretaker basis since Enzo Maresca departed the club on New Year’s Day following the deterioration of his relationship with ownership.

He was accompanied on the plane by Strasbourg club president Marc Keller and sporting director David Weir, who will join Rosenior in meetings with Chelsea directors on Monday.

McFarlane is prepared to take charge of the Premier League match against Fulham but is expecting that Chelsea will have their new permanent head coach in place by that point, which would allow him to return to his usual job with the U21s, who face Benfica in the Premier League International Cup on the same night.

Strasbourg insist Rosenior will not sign a contract to become the new Chelsea manager until they have lined up a suitable replacement.

It is understood that former Bournemouth and Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil is on a three-man shortlist to succeed Rosenior if he does join Chelsea. That is being whittled down to two, with a final decision to be made on Monday and before Rosenior’s departure from the French club is fully signed off.

Rosenior, 41, was appointed as Strasbourg head coach in July 2024 to replace Patrick Vieira, just over two months after he had been sacked as manager of Championship side Hull following 18 months in charge having missed out on the play-offs.

He guided the Alsace-based club to seventh in the Ligue 1 table last season and they currently occupy the same position after 17 games, as well as topping the Conference League table with an unbeaten record.

Talks with Chelsea were never expected to progress until the completion of Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw at Nice on Saturday, which is likely to prove his final game in charge.

McFarlane said after Sunday’s draw in Manchester that when told on Thursday he would be preparing the team for the City match, he was informed that Chelsea’s new permanent head coach could be “in on Monday.” The Chelsea sporting director informing him was referring to Rosenior.

Chelsea have a training session on Monday at their Cobham base, which McFarlane is expecting to lead. As things stand as of Monday afternoon, he is also scheduled to conduct a pre-Fulham press conference at 12pm GMT on Tuesday.

Strasbourg return to training on Monday afternoon, following a day off on Sunday, and the session will take place in Rosenior's absence.

If Rosenior is hired by Chelsea, he would be the club’s first English manager since their all-time leading scorer Frank Lampard, who was in charge from July 2019 to January 2021, before returning on a caretaker basis from April 2023 until the end of the 2022-23 season.