Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior has confirmed that he has reached a verbal agreement to take over as Chelsea’s next manager, describing the opportunity as one he could not turn down.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the 41-year-old Englishman said discussions with the Premier League club were already concluded and that an official announcement was expected soon.
“It looks like I am going to be the next manager of that football club (Chelsea),” Rosenior told reporters in Strasbourg. “Everything is agreed and it will probably go through in the next few hours.”
Chelsea are still yet to formally confirm the appointment, but talks were held with Rosenior in London on Monday following the sacking of Enzo Maresca last week.
Rosenior has been widely tipped as the leading candidate for the job, largely because Chelsea and Strasbourg are both owned by the same consortium, BlueCo.
If confirmed, he will become Chelsea’s fourth permanent manager since the takeover of the club in 2022.
Despite being relatively unknown at the highest level, Rosenior said he felt it was important to address the media in France before leaving, citing his strong attachment to Strasbourg.
“I’m here because I care about this club and I felt it was right to answer your questions here in person before I move on,” he said.
Rosenior has no previous Premier League managerial experience and is expected to face intense media scrutiny at Stamford Bridge. His coaching journey began at Derby County in 2019, where he worked first under Phillip Cocu and later as assistant to Wayne Rooney.
He briefly took charge of Derby on an interim basis in 2022 before being appointed Hull City manager later that year. After spending just over 18 months at the Championship club, he was dismissed and subsequently took up the Strasbourg job in July 2024.
Last season, Rosenior guided the Ligue 1 side to a respectable seventh-place finish, a run that appears to have convinced Chelsea’s hierarchy to hand him one of the biggest jobs in English football.
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