Chelsea have held "face-to-face" talks with Luis Enrique over becoming their next manager, according to journalist Simon Phillips.
Is Enrique in the mix for Chelsea job?
The Blues have a massive decision to make over who their next permanent boss is, with several candidates seemingly in the mix to come in. Graham Potter has been relieved of his duties and replaced by Frank Lampard, but the Chelsea legend is only in charge until the end of the season.
The likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino have all been mooted as potential managers to come in at Stamford Bridge, but Enrique is another who is believed to be in the conversation. The 52-yeard-old left his role as Spain's national team manager after the 2022 World Cup and is now looking for a new challenge.
It appears as though progress has been made regarding Enrique potentially taking charge of Chelsea once Lampard's spell ends, with some new comments suggesting as much.
Could Chelsea swoop for Spaniard?
Speaking to Give Me Sport, Phillips claimed that the Blues have had positive talks with Enrique regarding taking over as manager this summer:
"I had that confirmed; he did have a face-to-face interview with Chelsea this week. This was after his agents had already sent an impressive presentation of his ideas and visions to Chelsea.
"Chelsea invited him over to London for an interview; he came and had that, it went very well on both sides. Chelsea were impressed with him, he was impressed with Chelsea's project and what they want to do, but the thing with Enrique is he wants to take time with this decision as well."
Enrique is certainly a strong option for Chelsea if they club decide to go with him as Lampard's successor, having racked up a huge amount of experience in the game. The Spaniard may have ultimately bowed out of national team duties in disappointing fashion last year, but he won the World's Best Club Coach award back in 2015, having guided Barcelona to Champions League and La Liga glory, as well as winning the league the following year, too.
The fact that such positive discussions have taken place can only suggest that Todd Boehly sees him as a strong option to be the next manager, and three Spanish Cup wins with Barca, in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively, are further proof of his pedigree at the top level.