Bookies name Frenchman as favourite for Chelsea job – report

Bookmakers BetStars have slashed the odds on Laurent Blanc becoming the new manager at Chelsea as the Blues look to find a replacement for Antonio Conte.

Ian Marmion, the director of trading at BetStars, was speaking to the Daily Star where he even named a few other managers that are on the list of possible replacements for Conte, which include Maurizio Sarri, Luis Enrique, Slavisa Jokanovic and even Zinedine Zidane.

Marmion said: “Odds on Laurent Blanc to be appointed the next Chelsea manager have fallen from 6/1 to just 5/6 as the FA Cup winners accelerate their search for a new boss.”

Sarri is the second favourite to land the job at 3/1 while Enrique is 5/1, Jokanovic is 6/1 and Zidane is 10/1. Blanc, who played for Manchester United before taking up management in France, last coached Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 and won three successive league and cup doubles with the Ligue 1 giants.

Blanc does have the ability to deal with a board that expects him to get results, as he did with PSG but winning the league and cup for a side that is extremely talented in France is not the most difficult job.

Despite spending a lot of money to sign talents, Blanc failed to take PSG to the latter stages of the Champions League. The Frenchman did do a stellar job in leading Bordeaux to the title and if he does become the manager of Chelsea, he might have to work with a small transfer kitty.

This means that he has to be shrewd with his signings and hopefully, he could do a similar job to what Conte did in his first season and lead us to a title win.