Chelsea’s interest in recruiting Blues boss Kieran McKenna to replace Mauricio Pochettino has diminished, TWTD understands.
The West Londoners are believed to have held talks with McKenna’s representatives following Pochettino’s departure by mutual consent early last week.
But, while McKenna is understood to have been under serious consideration, former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi now appears the frontrunner for the job with Leicester’s Enzo Maresca, who had initially been their first choice, still in the running.
Yesterday, Manchester United, thought to be McKenna’s preferred destination should he leave Portman Road this summer given his previous history at Old Trafford and lifetime support of the club, beat their great rivals Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley with current boss Erik ten Hag widely praised for his game plan.
Despite carrying off the silverware, United are set to hold an end-of-season review in the next week, with Ten Hag’s performance a key aspect assessed, before making a decision on his future.
McKenna is certainly in the running for the United job should Ten Hag face the sack - and is the odds-on favourite with some bookies - but with that situation seemingly unlikely to come to a swift conclusion.
The Seagulls remain very interested making McKenna the successor to De Zerbi, who left by mutual consent at the end of the season, but we understand won’t wait around for too much longer before moving on to other targets.
As reported on Friday, Ed Schwartz, the CEO of ORG, the US investment firm which manages funds on behalf of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), the club’s majority owner, is over in the UK to hold talks with CEO Mark Ashton and McKenna as the Blues pull out the stops to keep their manager at Portman Road with a new extended contract certain to be on the table.
Discussions regarding potential successors also seem likely to form part of the talks between Schwartz and Ashton with Luton’s Rob Edwards having been tipped to be among those on the list of potential replacements.
McKenna, contracted to the Blues until the summer of 2027, took over at Town in December 2021 and since then has led the club to successive promotions and into the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.