David Moyes
Current job: Everton manager
One of British football's brightest and best. Perpetual budget frustrations would not be an issue at the Bridge, but record when spending big money is patchy. Lacks real European experience. Despite that, next stop is more likely to be Old Trafford, where he could bed in for a season working alongside Sir Alex before succeeding him.
Marco Van Basten
Current job: Unemployed, linked with Sporting Lisbon
Has agreed to join Sporting for next season, dependent on a club presidential election - but Roman's millions would fix that. Dropped the old guard while Netherlands manager, paving the way for their run to the final of last summer's World Cup, and would have be just as ruthless with Chelsea's ageing legends. But his sole club management stint, with Ajax, ended in disappointment and he is unlikely to get the job unless Guus Hiddink decides to return as a figurehead.
Jurgen Klinsmann
Current job: Unemployed
A bizarre inclusion among the favourites, as Klinsmann hasn't managed since leaving Bayern Munich in 2009 and shows no inclination to do so again - repeatedly speaking of his settled family life in California. Laid-back attitude to life is seemingly at total odds with the Chelsea philosophy.
Frank Rijkaard
Current job: Unemployed
Keen to get back to work after disillusionment at Galatasaray and fancies the Premier League, though was sensible enough to have turned Newcastle down earlier this season. Achievements at Barcelona have been put into some perspective by Pep Guardiola's incredible work there, but still a Champions League winner - and we know how much Roman Abramovich wants the Cup With Big Ears. In sole charge or in a dream team with Hiddink, he's the most realistic proposition on this list.
Martin O'Neill
Current job: Unemployed
See David Moyes (apart from the last sentence).
Didier Deschamps
Current job: Marseille manager
Former Chelsea player, though his spell with the club came too late in a distinguished playing career to have made him a Bridge favourite. Said to be ready to walk out on O'M - as he once did at Juventus - because of boardroom rifts. A trip to the Champions League final with Monaco aside, though, he has yet to really convince as a manager and looks like losing this season's Ligue 1 title to Lille. Probably on the list for sentimental reasons.
Andre Villas Boas
Current job: Porto manager
Jose Mourinho's former Stamford Bridge sideman is a fashionable tip after successfully treading in the Special One's footsteps at Porto. Only 33 and with no playing experience, he is a fascinating story, having earned his big break while engaging neighbour Sir Bobby Robson in football debate during the great man's time in Portugal's second city. And the fact that he's not yet a wealthy man may persuade him that all the hassles of Chelsea would be worth it for the inevitable giant pay-off. But as well as the relative weakness of the Primeira Liga, Villas Boas' lack of experience must count against him. So will the fact that, while at the Bridge, he was viewed by club hierarchy as even more potentially explosive than Jose.
Pep Guardiola
Current job: Barcelona manager
Recently signed a 12-month extension to his Nou Camp deal, but has few worlds left to conquer with Barca and is sad to be intrigued by the thought of a move to the Premier League. But would the intelligent, urbane Guardiola, who has built Barcelona in his own image, really come to a dysfunctional club whose win-now mentality may stymie the obvious need for a total rebuild?
Jose Mourinho
Current job: Real Madrid manager. Conspiracy theorist
When Chelsea's season hit its fatal slump over the festive break, there was talk of informal contact between the Blues and the Special One. Yet the recent Jose rants about how Uefa favour Barcelona will have reminded all at Stamford Bridge of exactly what it was that made both players and officials sick of him in the first place. Unlikely to return to the stage of past glories and loved by Real's players, fans and boardroom, who have bought into his rants to deflect from the idea that they're three seasons behind Barca. If he returns to England, it'll be to Manchester, not London.
Guus Hiddink
Current job: Turkey national team manager
Well regarded at the Bridge after his caretaker stint repairing the damage done by Big Phil Scolari, and reckoned to be top of Chelsea's list, possibly as part of an all-Dutch management team with Van Basten or Rijkaard. But refused to break his Russia contract to join the Blues full-time in 2009 and could do so again. Said to be finished with club management and unlikely to need the aggravation and fierce media glare of life in the Premier League. Already a very rich man, so unlikely to have his head turned by thoughts of a huge Abramovich pay-off.
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