Luis Enrique felt 'disappointed' by Chelsea's decision to make Frank Lampard interim manager following Graham Potter's sacking.
Potter was dismissed after a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa earlier this month, and Luis Enrique was one of several big names linked with the Blues job.
According to AS (via Goal), the former Spain boss was keen to take over and was left unhappy when instead Lampard returned for a second sting in the Stamford Bridge dugout.
Luis Enrique stepped down as coach after Spain were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup on penalties by Morocco in the last 16.
The 52-year-old reportedly met via Zoom with the Chelsea board and wanted to take charge for this week's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid, with whom he spent much of his playing career.
Prior to his time coaching the national team, the former midfielder had spells in charge of Roma, Celta Vigo, and Barcelona – where he saw out his playing days.
Whether having Luis Enrique at the helm would have made any difference to the result – Chelsea lost 2-0 at the Bernabeu – is up for debate.
It's been one crisis after another this season for the Blues, who are currently languishing in 11th place in the Premier League.
That's after they were utterly outclassed in losing 2-1 at home to Brighton on Saturday, which saw Lampard become the first Chelsea manager since Tommy Docherty in 1961 to lose their first three games – and only the third in the club's 118-year history.
