Chelsea want Premier League manager to succeed Rosenior as Romano reveals BlueCo strategy shift | OneFootball

Multiple sources have confirmed a current Premier League manager is already among the favourites to become the next permanent Chelsea manager, while plenty of names have already been ruled out.

Chelsea sacked Liam Rosenior on Wednesday evening, with no fewer than FIVE reasons cited as to why the Blues felt the dismissal could wait no longer.

There have been reports of Rosenior now being due a colossal compensation package worth in excess of £20m. However, both Sky Sports and Fabrizio Romano have confirmed Chelsea inserted a break clause in Rosenior’s contract, meaning the real figure he’ll pocket is much smaller.

Calum McFarlane – who had been serving as one of Rosenior’s assistants – has been installed as the interim manager. McFarlane will see out the season, but Chelsea’s search for a permanent manager who’ll take the reins in the summer is already underway.

And according to both Spanish reporter Edu Burgos and trusted journalist Ben Jacobs, Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola is among the early favourites to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea looking at Andoni Iraola

“Andoni Iraola is one of the favourites to take the bench,” wrote Burgos on X.

Also reporting on X, Jacobs stated: “Andoni Iraola is expected to be one of the leading names approached.”

Iraola, 43, is widely regarded as one of the premier young managers in world football. He’ll leave Bournemouth in the summer, meaning Chelsea wouldn’t have to buy the Spaniard out of his contract.

The Blues are understood to be targeting a manager with more top level experience than what Rosenior provided.

While Iraola is still young and has never managed in the Champions League, he is at least proven in the Premier League having worked wonders on the south coast over the past three seasons.

If Iraola is the chosen one, the squad he’s working with next season could have a different feel to the one rounding out the current campaign.

When reporting on YouTube, Romano stated Chelsea will aim to add a handful of more experienced players over the summer.

Romano stressed the new arrivals won’t be “old players”, but will be proven at the highest level. In other words, there won’t be so many teenagers arriving and those that do join will probably have at least a couple of full seasons in a top European league under their belt.

Who else could become next Chelsea manager?

TEAMtalk understands current Germany boss, Julian Nagelsmann, is on Chelsea’s radar too.

Nagelsmann is contracted to the German FA until the summer of 2028, but is widely known to be open to returning to club football after the 2026 World Cup.

When providing his take on Chelsea’s managerial situation on X, Jacobs claimed Nagelsmann has previously indicated he’s “not sold” on the Chelsea “model”.

But with the club now looking at signing readymade players rather than ones still years and years away from hitting their peak, that stance could change.

Jacobs also stated Eddie Howe, Francesco Fariola, Filipe Luís and Edin Terzic all have ‘admirers’ within Chelsea’s hierarchy.

However, Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner are not expected to feature on Chelsea’s shortlist having never been focused on during previous manager hunts in the BlueCo era.

Cesc Fabregas has been floated as a high calibre option, but per Romano, the Spaniard is intentioned to remain at Serie A side Como ahead of the club’s first ever European campaign next year.

Romano concluded his own update by insisting there is zero chance Chelsea perform a U-turn and bring Enzo Maresca back.

Instead, Maresca still remains the overwhelming favourite to succeed Pep Guardiola at Manchester City when the time eventually comes.