Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has emerged as a surprise candidate to replace Graham Potter as Chelsea's next head coach. The Blues have narrowed their search down to just three managers with Postecoglou joining Mauricio Pochettino and Burnely boss Vincent Kompany in the final round of talks.
Julian Nagelsmann had been tipped as the favourite to replace Potter at Stamford Bridge but the German has now pulled out of the race to become Chelsea's next head coach. football.london understands that the club have held positive talks with Pochettino regarding taking over from Potter.
The Blues hierarchy are huge admirers of the 51-year-old and his qualities and the players at Stamford Bridge are open to the idea of working with the former Tottenham manager. His name has been linked with the vacancy since Graham Potter was sacked on April 2, with co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart conducting a thorough process.
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Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy already touted Postecoglou to become the new manager at Chelsea after Thomas Tuchel was sacked in September last year. When asked who should be top of the list of next managerial candidates by talkSPORT host Jim White, Murphy blurted out: "Postecoglou!"
However, fellow pundit Simon Jordan wasn't having the Celtic boss as a serious contender at the time. The former Crystal Palace owner said: "Well, that is a huge step up again. The question for me is for me that I wouldn't have been sacking Tuchel unless there was a really, really compelling reason that we are not aware of."
Whilst Jordan may not have been in favour of Postecoglou being linked with the Chelsea job last year, the Celtic boss has admirers at Stamford Bridge has a good chance of replacing Potter after making the three-man shortlist. The Greek manager has won three trophies during his time at Celtic and looks likely to win the Scottish Premiership for a second consecutive season this term.
Chelsea have a history for appointing world-class managers with a huge reputation across Europe, but Potter's appointment went against that trend as Todd Boehly tried a new approach. It looks as though he could continue to avoid going for the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Enrique and Jose Mourinho and instead try a different approach as he continues his thorough process of hiring a new head coach.
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