Julian Nagelsmann has given himself a good chance of becoming Chelsea’s head coach after impressing during initial talks, but the German will face competition from Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea have started to cut their shortlist of candidates and Nagelsmann, 35, is still seen as the likeliest appointment. The former Bayern Munich manager made a positive impression during a meeting with the club’s sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, last week and he has support from the co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
However no decision has been made and Chelsea expect to hold further talks with potential hires. They have spoken to Sporting’s Rúben Amorim and the former Spain and Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.
Amorim has not been ruled out but is seen as an outsider. There are doubts over Luis Enrique, who is also being targeted by Tottenham, after he made several demands during talks a fortnight ago.