Manager held video call with Chelsea as ‘prelude’ to physical meeting – ‘Key factor’ makes him favourite

Chelsea had already held a video call with Spanish coach Luis Enrique before his trip to London for a face-to-face meeting.

That’s according to AS, who say Enrique was left disappointed by the Blues’ decision to hire Frank Lampard until the end of the season.

The newspaper explain that after Graham Potter was sacked on April 2^nd, Luis Enrique became an option to replace him ‘hours later’.

A video call from Barcelona with Chelsea’s directors followed soon after and was a ‘prelude’ to a trip to London two days later alongside his son and his agent, where they met Todd Boehly.

During this meeting Enrique ‘tried to convince’ Boehly to install him immediately so that his first game could be the clash against Real Madrid in the Champions League. He saw this as ‘an exciting challenge’ to start his career at Stamford Bridge.

However, he was soon to taste disappointment as the day after his trip to London, Chelsea announced Lampard as interim manager until the end of the season.

This rejection ‘was a disappointment’ for the Spaniard as he had been “very motivated” to face Real Madrid in the Champions League.

That disappointment ‘could change radically’ in a few months’ time, though, as the Asturian is emerging as the number one candidate to take the reins.

Julian Nagelsmann is his ‘great rival’ for the position but Chelsea know that having Enrique on the bench would be a ‘key factor’ in convincing Barcelona midfielder Gavi, who they have been trying to lure for weeks, to the club this summer.