Sonia Bompastor: Who is the coach linked with replacing Emma Hayes as Chelsea Women manager?

Lyon Women manager Sonia Bompastor has been linked with replacing Emma Hayes as Chelsea Women manager this summer. Both sides play in the Champions League semi-finals this weekend and could meet in the final. But who is Bompastor and will she fit with the Blues?

There are two criteria that Chelsea are looking for when appointing a manager to fill Hayes' impossibly large shoes.

Any new manager must maintain the success of the club. Chelsea have dominated domestic football in England for years, and have begun to assert themselves in Europe too.

A female coach has also been high on their wishlist. In Hayes, Chelsea have had a trailblazer. One of the game's chief champions who has been responsible for growth and change - a major player in improving the overall health of the sport.

The fact she has done so from a female perspective is equally important. Hayes entered the game at a time when very few female voices were taken seriously - a gap in experienced female head coaches still exists to this day.

And Bompastor fits both - she is another woman managing at a top European club, with a proven track record of success.

"Sonia is another big personality," writer and analyst Abdullah Abdullah told Sky Sports. He has written books on both Lyon and Chelsea's journeys in European competition.

"She came into a Lyon dressing room that needed guidance after they lost their way a little bit under the previous manager. She is a legend of the club and French football so she was instantly respected and lauded internally.

"That gave her a foundation with the French players. This can be replicated at Chelsea with someone who is a legend, but has also played the game-winning Champions League and league titles."

As Abdullah says, in her first full