Already struggling on the pitch last season, going from first to fifth in the space of a campaign, Chelsea are now facing huge problems off it too.
The situation surrounding Roman Abramovich has put many plans on hold, as the Russian oligarch recently ‘withdrew’ his application to extend his investor visa after his current expired a few weeks ago.
This has led the Chelsea owner to head to Israel, where ‘he is eligible to be an Israeli citizen’.
Since then, plans to rebuild Stamford Bridge have been put on hold and the deadline to trigger Maurizio Sarri’s release clause has passed.
The former Napoli manager was seen as the favourite to replace Antonio Conte, who is also causing Abramovich a headache due to the amount of money it would cost for Chelsea to sack their current head coach.
That’s why, should the Blues decide to replace him, Laurent Blanc is seemingly emerging as the preferred option.
France Football recently revealed Marina Granovskaia had met with the former Manchester United defender to ‘evaluate his candidacy’ for the job, and Corriere dello Sport, in an article penned by Gabriele Marcotti, suggest the pack the ‘Blanc solution’ is moving forward.
The Italian newspaper explain the Frenchman’s squad management skills and authority is what they ‘like’ about him, and things are moving to put him in the Stamford Bridge dugout, more so than they are with Luis Enrique, who still remains an option.
The option that Conte could stay another year also hasn’t been discarded, as every day that passes without Abramovich sacking the Italian is a day the potential new manager doesn’t have to make the team his own.
But, as Marcotti puts it, the Chelsea owner currently has other, more important, fish to fry, hence the delay.
