Chelsea next manager odds: Bournemouth, Crystal Palace & Strasbourg coaches among frontrunners
The bookmakers’ favourites for the Chelsea manager’s job - including Liam Rosenior, Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner.
Astonishing though it would have seemed just a couple of weeks ago, Enzo Maresca has left Stamford Bridge and Chelsea are suddenly in the market for a new head coach – but who will the Blues be able to bring in halfway through the season?
Chelsea still have every chance of qualifying for the Champions League despite a disappointing run of form in December, and they have one of the biggest transfer budgets in the game, so it should be a pretty appealing position, but with most of the bigger names in management settled comfortably into their current roles it won’t necessarily be easy for BlueCo to pick and choose their next coach – but the betting market seems to have identified eight candidates who could be at the top of Chelsea’s shortlist.
We’ve listed those eight managers below along with best UK betting odds we could find at the time of publication to give fans an idea of where Chelsea could be heading with their unexpected head coach search.
Liam Rosenior the clear bookies’ favourite for the Chelsea job
Liam Rosenior – 3/10: Rosenior’s role as manager of Chelsea’s sister club RC Strasbourg means he’s ideally positioned for the job and an easy candidate to get hold of – Chelsea would, after all, only need to negotiate with Rosenior and themselves to make the appointment.
The 41-year-old former Fulham full-back impressed with Hull City in his first permanent managerial role and has done an excellent job in France since joining Strasbourg in 2024, taking an extremely young side to Europe in his first season. Numerous media outlets, including The Athletic, report that Rosenior is Chelsea’s first choice, but the club are also vetting other candidates.
Filipe Luís – 7/1: Another young manager and former full-back, the Brazilian had a brief and unsuccessful spell with Chelsea as a player but has enjoyed an explosive start to life in management – he only took charge of Flamengo, his first club job, in September 2024 but has already won the Copa Libertadores, the Brazilian Serie A, the regional Carioca league and the Copa do Brasil along with several other minor trophies. That supposedly put him on Chelsea’s radar and now makes him second-favourite for the vacancy, but he signed a new contract with Flamengo just this week.
Cesc Fabregàs – 9/1: A former player who enjoyed rather more success at Stamford Bridge, Fabregàs has done some very impressive work in coaching since taking over at Italian upstarts Como and has proven to be an excellent manager of young, upcoming players, a quality which makes him very attractive to Chelsea. He’s 18 months into a four-year contract with his current club and a move to a bigger side seems inevitable at some stage.
Bournemouth & Crystal Palace managers among other names in the frame
Andoni Iraola – 16/1: Past Rosenior, Luís and Fabregàs, the odds very considerably, and the price on Iraola to become the next Chelsea manager can be as short as half of this depending on where you look. It’s not clear whether the current Bournemouth manager is a serious candidate or whether he would make a mid-season move, but his impressive work at Dean Court and reputation for playing exciting, attacking football while nurturing a young squad suggests that his name will surely come up in some of the meetings being held behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge right now.
Francesco Farioli – 20/1: You can also find rather shorter odds in some markets on the 36-year-old Porto manager, who only joined the Portuguese club in July. A disciple of Roberto De Zerbi, Farioli has worked at OGC Nice and Ajax, leaving the Dutch club after their late-season collapse cost them the 2024/25 Eredivise title. Farioli is regarded as one of Europe’s most promising young coaches, but hasn’t yet enjoyed consistent success. 22 wins in his first 26 games in charge of Porto has kept his name in the conversation for bigger jobs, however.
Oliver Glasner – 20/1: The Crystal Palace manager has spent much of the last year seemingly on the brink of falling out with his club’s board and isn’t noted as a coach who worries too much about backroom diplomacy – which would certainly make him an intriguing choice for Chelsea given what’s just happened with Maresca. That said, he’s proven at Palace that he’s a superb tactician and man manager.
Xavi Hernández – 22/1: The legendary midfielder hasn’t managed since leaving Barcelona in 2024 but his positive work at the Camp Nou and stature within the game means that he’s never far from consideration for major managerial postings.
Roberto De Zerbi – 22/1: The former Brighton manager still has plenty of admirers in the Premier League and is the last coach to have sensible odds to take over at Stamford Bridge. Currently the head coach of Marseille, De Zerbi is a divisive figure but his attacking coaching philosophy and reputation as a forward-thinking tactician makes him appealing for plenty of clubs. Chelsea may well be among them.