Cesar Azpilicueta has dropped a hint that he would like Luis Enrique to become Chelsea’s new head coach.
Enrique is the favourite to take over at Stamford Bridge, having recently flown to west London to have discussions with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
Chelsea are looking to appoint a permanent successor to the sacked Graham Potter by the start of the summer, with Frank Lampard returning as interim manager until the end of the campaign.
Julian Nagelsmann is also linked but many other names are believed to be under consideration including Lampard, Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane.
Enrique has good credentials, having won the treble with Barcelona in 2015 and managed some of the world’s biggest and best players through his time at the Camp Nou and the Spain team.
This includes players like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez and several Chelsea players, past and present, including Azpilicueta.
The Blues skipper has won 44 caps for his country since his international debut in 2013 and was included in the squads for the World Cups in 2014, 2018 and 2022 as well as Euro 2020 – the most recent two of those under the management of Enrique.
Speaking to Spanish outlet EFE, Azpilicueta spoke about the managerial situation at Chelsea, saying: ‘There are parts [of the club] who negotiate, that we trust with doing what is best for the club. We will see what happens.’
When asked if he liked the idea of Enrique or any Spanish manager being appointed, the 33-year-old said: ‘My best games with the national team were with Luis Enrique as coach.’
Azpilicueta has continued to play a huge part in the Chelsea team this season, making 26 appearances thus far, and is close to returning to action having suffered an head injury against Southampton back in February.
