Chelsea have held talks with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim over him becoming the club’s new head coach, according to reports.
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Amorim, who won the Portuguese league and cup double in his first season with Sporting, was on Chelsea’s shortlist and they have now spoken to him.
The 38-year-old has a release clause of around €10 million (£8.7m) in his deal with Sporting and the Blues would have to pay that fee to take him to west London.
Amorim is the latest candidate Chelsea have spoken to with the club’s hierarchy having now held talks with at least four potential managers, report The Guardian.
Amorim spoke openly about his future earlier this month and suggested that he wanted to stay in Portugal with Sporting despite links to the Blues.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali do not want to ‘act hastily’ after they decided to sack Graham Potter and will take their time to find the right person for the job having brought in Frank Lampard until the end of the season.
Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, 35, emerged as the early frontrunner but Chelsea are concerned he is too young for the role.
Chelsea are keen on ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino but he reportedly has little interest and wants the Real Madrid job instead.
Former Spain and Barcelona boss Luis Enrique as well as Napoli’s Luciano Spalletti are also managers Chelsea are thought to be targeting.
Marcelo Gallardo is one of the latest names to be linked – along with Antonio Conte – while Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed speculation he could return to Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho has indicated that he could leave Roma this summer after being linked with a surprise return but Zinedine Zidane will turn down the chance to become Chelsea’s new manager, according to Emmanuel Petit.
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