With the pressure rising on Antonio Conte, and seemingly on his way out of Chelsea, will Rafa Benitez be the next man in at Stamford Bridge?
The bookies have the Newcastle boss 33/1 for the job!
With money coming in for Antonio Conte to depart Chelsea before the end of the season as his relationship with the Stamford Bridge side souring by the day, who will step in to replace the Italian?
His relationship with the owner seems to have soured amid talk of not getting enough backing in the transfer market, while there’s also been the high-profile departure of Diego Costa after a public disagreement between the two.
Now, with Chelsea struggling to make the top four it seems only a matter of time before Conte moves on, but who’ll be next in line to take the job at Chelsea?
Here’s the list of runners at rider, with their Sky bet odds to be the club’s next permanent manager.
Luis Enrique Evens is the favourite to replace Conte.
The former Barcelona manager has had a year out of the game since taking a sabbatical following a successful spell at Camp Nou that yielded two La Liga and cup doubles and one Champions League title.
He may not quite have matched Pep Guardiola’s style, but he certainly knew how to win trophies, and everyone knows Roman Abramovich sees the Champions League as the ultimate prize. The one doubt may be how Enrique would do without the Messi-Suarez-Neymar superstar trio he had at his disposal at Barca.
He’s also available immediately.
Massimiliano Allegri comes in at 4/1
He’s already replaced Conte once, at Juventus in 2014, and he managed to go even better than Conte’s impressive record with the Old Lady as he led Juve to three Serie A titles and two Champions League finals.
He looks like making that four Serie A titles this season but he could well be moving on, and it’s already been reported in Italy that he has agreed a deal to replace Conte in the summer. Taking on the man who has already replaced Conte once could be seen as both a positive and negative for Chelsea’s higher-ups.
Next Chelsea manager – selected odds
John Terry 12/1
Marco Silva 12/1
Brendan Rodgers 14/1
Diego Simeone 14/1
Mauricio Pochettino 25/1
Rafa Benitez 33/1