Julian Nagelsmann was told ‘the job was his’ before pulling out of the race to become the new Chelsea manager, according to reports.
The Blues are currently on the lookout for a new permanent manager after sacking Graham Potter earlier this month following just 12 wins in his 31 matches in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Potter had replaced Thomas Tuchel in September and Frank Lampard is now in a caretaker role until the end of the season with Chelsea sitting 11th in the Premier League table.
Lampard has not fared any better than Potter since his arrival with Chelsea losing all four of their matches under the former Blues midfielder.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed last week that Nagelsmann had dropped out of the race after being one of the early favourites for the vacant position at Chelsea.
Romano tweeted: “Julian Nagelsmann has now withdrawn from the race to become the new Chelsea head coach — it looks like it’s his final decision.
“German coach is said to be no longer available after multiple round of talks. Nagelsmann was top candidate for the job.”
And the Daily Mail claim that ‘spooked’ Nagelsmann harboured ‘serious concerns over the recruitment process’ with the former Bayern Munich boss ‘understood to have been under the impression that the job was his and that talks were a formality’.
Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is ‘now widely expected to succeed Graham Potter and a decision is on the cards in the coming days’ after Nagelsmann’s withdrawal.
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany was one of the other candidates on their shortlist but his lack of experience looks to have swayed them towards Pochettino.
Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf loves both Nagelsmann and Pochettino but recently claimed that neither of them “would be able to handle the pressure of managing Chelsea right now”.
Leboeuf said: “I love both Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino did a very good job at Tottenham, and Nagelsmann did a very good job at Leipzig.
“I would say that for both of them they didn’t carry the same enthusiasm at PSG and Bayern respectively.
“I’m not sure that Nagelsmann or Pochettino would be able to handle the pressure of managing Chelsea right now, especially with where we are and how the fans are feeling right now.
“I would rather go with Pochettino because there was real pressure from the fans at Tottenham.
“I don’t have a problem with the fact that Pochettino used to manage Tottenham. Jose Mourinho went to Spurs, so did Antonio Conte, so why is it an issue the other way around? I don’t have any problem with that.”
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