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.

Photo: TWTD

gosblue added 11:11 - May 27 So many entitled ‘so called fans’ demanding answers and demanding them now. Thankfully, there are enough reasonable contributors to this platform to make it worth a read. So many clubs are in trouble over FFP and the biggest culprits are ‘entitled’ supporters demanding massive spending and the sacking of managers and directors. Sheffield Wednesday fans wanted the head of their owner not realising he was paying the players wages out of his own pocket. There are much better ways of going about things. So let’s take a breath. I’m sure there will be a statement coming out this week. I’m excited to see who our manager is going to be. Fingers crossed it’s KMcK. If not, £6m and the huge salary needed to keep him will go a long way.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:23 - May 27 While we can usually dismiss most paper rumours, the lack of comment from PR seems to indicate fairly clear to me now that K McK is waiting to see whether he gets the Man U job. This hopefully will become clear very soon. If he doesn't, it might be difficult for him to take up the reigns again at PR with same intensity and support from the fans that he has had these last two years. McK has done a fantastic job and will be remembered fondly, but maybe it's time for a new beginning. Onwards and upwards. But if I'm wrong and he stays, then I won't be too disappointed!

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martin587 added 11:49 - May 27 Steve your absolutely spot on with your comments.That’s my main concern will or is his heart still at PR.
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blues1 added 12:05 - May 27 Well apparently the glazers dont want potter, tho ratcliffe did, bcse he's had no champions lge experience. So that would rule out mckenna too I suspect.
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TimmyH added 13:49 - May 27 Unfortunately for us McKenna is favourite with the bookies for the Man U job (not that they're always right).
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Writtleblue added 14:30 - May 27 He could carry on with the Ipswich tradition by staying for a number of years and then become England manager.
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Writtleblue added 14:32 - May 27 He could carry on with the Ipswich tradition by staying for a number of years and then become England manager.
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blues1 added 15:25 - May 27 Whittleblue. He will never be England manager. Has said so,himself. As he's Irish, and his family would disown him if he did
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alfromcol added 15:59 - May 27 Off subject, but anyone know when the retained list is due?
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Len_Brennan added 16:39 - May 27 David Ornstein, of The Guardian, says McKenna is expected to sign a new low term contract with Ipswich!!!!!!
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Len_Brennan added 16:40 - May 27 *LONG term contract even.
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paris_mitchell_in_oz added 14:48 - May 28 Pretty sure it was McKenna who looked away from Chelsea, not the other way around.
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