Chelsea’s process to appoint a new head coach has started with the Blues patiently assessing their options after parting company with Liam Rosenior last week
Chelsea’s search for a new head coach has started, with multiple candidates already being reviewed ahead of the end-of-season appointment.
Liam Rosenior was dismissed from his role as head coach last week, after less than four months at the helm, and the process to source his permanent successor is underway behind the scenes. The Blues, though, are determined to carry out a considered and patient approach when it comes to appointing their next head coach – someone BlueCo desperately want to be the long-term solution to their ambitious project.
Calum McFarlane is now the interim boss and will be so until the end of the season. Chelsea want their man in before the start of the 2026/27 campaign, with the likes of Andoni Iraola, Xabi Alonso and Marco Silva on the shortlist. There are other unnamed candidates on Chelsea’s radar as well, sources say, at this early stage in the process.
Iraola’s entourage, football.london understands, has already been contacted by Chelsea. The west Londoners recently got in touch with the Spaniard’s representatives to try and gauge interest in a summer switch to Stamford Bridge, with the highly-rated Bournemouth boss leaving his role at the Vitality Stadium once the current season ends.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Whoever BlueCo end up appointing, it will have big implications on the squad – but perhaps some more than others. Below, football.london takes a detailed look at six Chelsea players, worth a combined £222million (accumulated transfer fees with add-ons included), who may keep a closer eye than others on Rosenior’s permanent successor.
Robert Sanchez
It has been a strange season for the Chelsea goalkeeper. Up until that afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, Sanchez had grown massively into the No.1 role at Stamford Bridge. He was many people’s shout for the club’s Player of the Season, or certainly most-improved Player of the Season (if there was such an award).
An error of judgment away at Arsenal, though, cost Chelsea the game, and he paid the price a few days later. Rosenior decided to take Sanchez out of the spotlight 72 hours after the defeat to the Gunners and opted with Filip Jorgensen in goal at Villa Park. A few days later, Sanchez started away at Wrexham in the FA Cup – which seemed a real statement at the time given it is usually the second-choice goalie who starts those sort of matches against lower league opposition.
Jorgensen then got the nod against Paris Saint-Germain away from home a few days after and it all went wrong for the Danish goalkeeper, who has not played since due to a groin injury. Sanchez was then reintegrated into the side and ever since, he has looked a shadow of the version we saw earlier in the season, particularly with the ball at his feet. His performance against Leeds United on Sunday, though, was outstanding, so there is hope he can rekindle his form.
Mike Penders, Chelsea’s young goalkeeper who has spent this season with sister club Strasbourg, will arrive in west London over the summer. The Blues will assess their options in pre-season regarding Penders, though there is talk the 20-year-old shot-stopper will compete for the No.1 shirt next season.
What does that mean for Sanchez? Surely the Spaniard will not want to stick around if Penders, eight years his junior, is the go-to goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge. That is why the new head coach – and whether he takes an immediate liking to Sanchez – will be so crucial for the former Brighton goalkeeper.
Wesley Fofana
Going into the 2025/26 season, many Chelsea supporters would have been of the opinion that Fofana and Levi Colwill are the club’s best centre-back options. These days, many will tell you differently.
Not in relation to Colwill, who has not played a competitive senior match since last July because of a serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, but regarding Fofana. The Frenchman, who was signed for a £75m package in the summer of 2022, has been poor in recent weeks.
Fofana was arguably Chelsea’s worst player in the defeat to Brighton last week – and that is saying something – with Rosenior, in his final match in charge, hooking the defender at the half-time break. That was largely down to a change of shape at the Amex Stadium but Fofana seemed the obvious person to sacrifice to alter the setup.
It was no surprise to see McFarlane take him out of the side for Sunday afternoon’s 1-0 win against Leeds at Wembley Stadium. Not playing in such a crucial match would have undoubtedly frustrated Fofana but he can have no arguments given his woes recently.
Chelsea are looking to sign a starting-level centre-back in the upcoming summer transfer window, sources say, to play alongside Colwill in the years to come. That could have big implications for Fofana unless he is able to impress the new manager when they arrive.
If Chelsea qualify for European football, which is not a guarantee due to their awful run of form of late, they will be playing three matches most weeks. Everyone knows the impact that can have on players and a big squad is needed, so Fofana will get chances if he remains at the club.
That is not certain, though. If he is not Chelsea’s first-choice central defender, then surely the club will consider their options re Fofana given his big wages and the possibility of still being able to fetch a handsome fee for his services.
Josh Acheampong
Ask a Chelsea fan what they think of Acheampong’s season and they might roll their eyes and tell you something along the lines of: he isn’t being used anywhere near enough. The 19-year-old, sources say, is very highly rated at Stamford Bridge but his minutes this term suggest otherwise.
In all competitions this season, Acheampong has managed just over 1200 minutes on the pitch. To put that into some perspective: out of Chelsea’s deep pool of defensive options, only Benoit Badiashile (1074) and Mamadou Sarr (285), who was recalled from his loan midway through the campaign, have fewer than the Cobham graduate.
Some might ask: what do you expect when it comes to someone with little first-team experience promoted from the academy system just last season? That would be a good question without context but the reality is, a lot of this Chelsea defence has been under-par this term, particularly since Christmas, and Acheampong has deserved loads more minutes on the pitch.
At such a crucial stage of his career, where he needs time on the pitch to develop, it would arguably be more beneficial for Acheampong to be playing for Chelsea’s U21 side if he is not going to be used much within the senior setup.
Sources stressed to football.london just last month that the club have no plans to sell Acheampong in the summer. However, the idea of a loan was not completely dismissed. Unless Acheampong can win over the new head coach and earn a regular spot in his team, a loan elsewhere seems the most sensible option for all parties – particularly with defensive reinforcements set to arrive in the summer window.
Alejandro Garnacho
Just shy of eight months into Garnacho’s time at Stamford Bridge and there are already question marks over where his future lies. The 21-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Blues in the summer, just one season after joining from Manchester United for a £40m package.
Minutes haven’t been the issue for Garnacho, he has over 2,000 of them in all competitions and has made 41 appearances, but his decision-making and lack of end product has infuriated supporters. The Argentine winger too often makes the wrong decision in the final third. The term ‘wasteful’ has been included in many descriptions of Garnacho.
Plenty accused Garnacho of having a bad attitude when he signed for Chelsea, but the club did their due diligence when it came to such accusations. Sources say Garnacho’s attitude has been positive since joining the Blues. Rosenior said as much during his short tenure as head coach and praised his work ethic after consistently being named on the bench.
From Chelsea’s point of view, they paid a relatively modest fee – in today’s market – of £40m for a young talent with potential. If they were to flip him this summer, they should be able to recoup at least most of what Man United received. You would think so, anyway.
Chelsea have been linked with multiple left-sided winger in the upcoming transfer window despite bringing Garnacho and Jamie Gittens in for a combined £92m less than 12 months ago. Mykhailo Mudryk is suspended, with the situation around the Ukrainian hush-hush at the moment, while Tyrique George is on loan at Everton, who have the option to buy the Cobham graduate.
Garnacho has a big impression to make when the new head coach arrives. Whether or not the club’s sporting directors have other plans for the former United winger is another thing to consider.
Jamie Gittens
Given his torrid time with injuries since the turn of the year (he hasn’t played for Chelsea since January 31), it only feels right Gittens gets at least a bit more time to prove himself. The 21-year-old showed glimpses of his talent and potential during his 27 appearances – where he played slightly over 1,100 minutes – in all competitions but lacked the killer touch in the final third.
Either way, Chelsea signed Gittens with the view of him being a big part of the club’s long-term project. Surely such plans have not disappeared just yet given his lack of time to prove himself at Stamford Bridge.
Though, similarly to Garnacho, the introduction of a new left winger this summer could prove detrimental to Gittens. As well as this, highly-rated prospect Geovany Quenda will officially move from Sporting CP – a versatile forward who can play on both flanks.
Sources could not confirm whether Gittens will be available for Chelsea before the season’s conclusion as he continues his rehabilitation process. There is no rush to reintroduce Gittens before the end of the campaign, with the club looking to treat his muscular problems with caution and care.
Either way, the former Borussia Dortmund wide man faces a big summer trying to impress the new boss, otherwise he could well be left behind.
Liam Delap
The 23-year-old striker has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after just one season at the club. It has been an extremely disappointing campaign for Delap on a personal level – with just two goals to his name (and only one of them coming in 2026) since joining from Ipswich Town for around £30m less than 12 months ago.
Some supporters have lost patience with Delap and struggle to see what he brings to the Chelsea side. The way the Blues play, whether that’s under Enzo Maresca, Rosenior or McFarlane, doesn’t seem to suit the No.9’s game. Too often, Delap is a passenger in matches.
A report from the Telegraph earlier this week claimed Delap is determined to prove himself in west London and wants to stay beyond the summer. Chelsea, though, will need to consider their options with a bit of a dilemma in the striker area just around the corner.
The only man that isn’t really involved in said dilemma is Joao Pedro. The Brazil international has been superb since signing from Brighton last summer, so let’s just park him to one side for the moment.
Emanuel Emegha will arrive from Strasbourg in the summer. The Netherlands international agreed a pre-contract with Chelsea earlier in the season and is set to be added to the new head coach’s options for the 2026/27 campaign.
Then there is the Nicolas Jackson part of the dilemma. The Senegal international will not join Bayern Munich permanently once his loan with the recently-crowned Bundesliga champions expires.
Sources close to Jackson told football.london a couple of months ago that the 24-year-old striker is open to the possibility of returning to Stamford Bridge but will assess his options when the summer comes around. Interestingly, Iraola is openly a big admirer of Jackson.
It is unclear at this point whether Chelsea will entertain permanent offers for Marc Guiu, but would surely be open to loaning the Spaniard after his temporary spell with Sunderland was cut short back in August due to the Jackson and Bayern saga.
Chelsea will have too many strikers in the summer. Joao Pedro, Delap, Jackson, Emegha and Guiu. The Blues need to clear their cache and have a four-man list to review.
