Reports: Chelsea eye former Barcelona boss as Conte replacement

What's the rumour?

As per reports in The Telegraph, Chelsea have lined up Luis Enrique to be the next possible successor for the managerial job at Stamford Bridge. The 47-year-old Spaniard has been unemployed since leaving Barcelona in 2017 at the expiry of his contract.

In case you didn't know...

There has been a lot of friction and differences between Conte and the Chelsea board this season. He wasn't able to secure the signings of the players he wanted at the club, particularly Alex Sandro and Fernando Llorente in the summer transfer window.

The situation was similar in the winter transfer window, as Chelsea failed to agree personal terms with Edin Dzeko.

Conte and the Chelsea board have never been able to see eye to eye when it comes to making transfers. He commented that he gives the board a list of players that he wishes to sign and then its the responsibility of the board to recruit the players.

The heart of the matter

Chelsea had a very difficult month of January and the last two defeats to Arsenal in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League might have put the Italian's job under more pressure.

Rumour rating/probability: 9/10

The chances of Antonio Conte not being at Chelsea next season seems to keep growing day day by day. Luis Enrique looks to be the favourite in the running for the Chelsea job.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic and the club's board are keen admirers of the former Barcelona boss. Notably, Enrique's name has been lined up in the list of candidates along with Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri and Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone.

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Authors take

The way things have unfolded, it looks more than certain that Conte will be out of Chelsea, come the end of the season. There could be a possibility of him walking out even before the season finishes.

Chelsea fans have always been in full support of Conte but his working relationship with the hierarchy is something that looks like it won't improve, and him parting ways with Chelsea is probably what will be best for the club in the future.

The fact that Conte does not have control over the recruitment of players at his club will be one of the primary reasons which may cause Conte and Chelsea to go separate ways.