2004 Ballon d’Or winner in pole position to land Chelsea job
According to fresh reports, Andriy Shevchenko has emerged as the clear frontrunner to replace Frank Lampard as Chelsea boss as the Blues head coach goes favourite himself to be the next to lose his job in the top-flight.
They have lost five of their last eight matches and were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City on Tuesday night in the Premier League.
After a decent start to the campaign, Lampard’s outfit are now eighth, with West Ham leapfrogging the Blues on Tuesday night thanks to a victory against West Brom.
Eight wins in 19 games has put Frank under severe pressure and the Englishman admitted he was worried with his side’s form after defeat to the Foxes.
Most bookmakers now have Frank odds-on to be the next PL boss to leave their post, a shorter price than Newcastle United’s struggling boss Steve Bruce or bottom club Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder.
Favourite to replace him is Shevchenko, who has been in charge of his country, Ukraine since 2016, guiding them to qualification for this year’s Euro 2021, although he has never had a job in club management.
He now leads the betting market at 9/5 to be appointed his old club’s next permanent manager, according to Betfair.
The 44-year-old joined Chelsea in 2006, for a then record sum of £30.8m, the most an English side had ever paid for a player.
However, it wasn’t a good time for the Ukrainian in west London featuring in just 77 matches for the club before departing for Dynamo Kiev. He netted 22 goals in that time, but only nine of them came in the division.
Also thought to be in the running to replace Chelsea chief, should he be dismissed, is former Juventus leader Max Allegri and recently dismissed PSG head coach Thomas Tuchel.