Luis Enrique wants Chelsea job after jetting in for Boehly talks – as Lampard agrees to be stand-in boss THIS weekend
LUIS ENRIQUE wants to become Chelsea’s permanent manager — but Frank Lampard will be caretaker by Saturday.
Former Spain and Barcelona boss Enrique held talks with chairman Todd Boehly in London yesterday, just hours before the Blues spoke to legend Lamps over an interim role.
As SunSport exclusively revealed yesterday, Chelsea’s record 211 goal-scorer and ex-chief Lampard has agreed to be in the dugout for Saturday’s league trip to Wolves.
His assistants will be Ashley Cole, Joe Edwards and Chris Jones.
Enrique left the Spanish job after the World Cup and planned to wait before returning to management.
Only last week the superfit ex-midfielder completed the Cape Epic, a mountain bike race in South Africa.
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But interest from Chelsea, who sacked Graham Potter on Sunday, made him change his mind.
And Enrique, 52, joked he had just returned from ‘paradise’ as he arrived back in Barcelona with agent Ivan de la Pena last night.
He said: “I’ve come from Formentera, it is a beautiful island, like paradise.
“A wonderful island and I would advise everyone to go there.”
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It is believed Enrique is keen to take the job and work in the Prem.
He is joined on Chelsea’s wishlist by former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Ex-Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann and Fulham’s Marco Silva are among the others on the shortlist to be approached as replacements for Potter.
Enrique, Pochettino and Nagelsmann are all out of work — while Silva’s situation is tricky because he is employed by a Premier League rival.
First-team coach Bruno Saltor is interim boss but Boehly has been looking for a more experienced man to take the reins until the end of the season.
Chelsea’s board are in no rush to appoint a long-term manager and will follow the process of interviews thoroughly before making a decision — which opened the door for Lampard.
The 44-year-old was in the executive box of co-owner Behdad Eghbali to watch Tuesday’s goalless draw with Liverpool.
And Lampard, who was Chelsea boss for 17 months before he was sacked in January 2021, would give Boehly the choice of a manager who knows Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea play holders Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night.
That is a tough test for rookie Saltor, who picked a team for the first time against Liverpool, to handle.
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Lampard has coached and played at the highest level and most recently managed Everton.
The ex-England star is eager to get back into work.
