Emma Hayes was in no mood for speculation.
When it was put to theChelsea boss back in February that Lyon head coach Sonia Bompastor was being lined up as her successor, she insisted it was «unfair» to pontificate on another manager's credentials, particularly while they remain under contract elsewhere. «When the club has something to report about a head coach appointment then I'm sure they'll deliver that,» was her stern riposte to reporters. «We don't have anything to report at the moment.»
Two months on and still there has been no official word from Chelsea on who will take the reins from Hayes when she departs to become manager of the US Women's national team at the end of the season. However, with The Telegraph now reporting a deal has been struck with Bompastor and her assistant Camille Abily to make the switch to Kingsmeadow, it looks a near certainty that it is the Frenchwoman who will be taking charge of the Blues next term.
On paper, at least, it is the best possible appointment. Bompastor is a serial winner. She has led Lyon to two league titles (with a third likely to follow next month), three domestic cups and — most crucially — one Champions League triumph, since she became manager in April 2021.
For all of Hayes' successes during her time at Chelsea — of which there have been many — her pursuit of European glory has so far been fruitless. With that in mind, enlisting the services of a coach who has serious pedigree in the continent's premier club competition would constitute a real statement of intent from the Blues.
That other managers have achieved similar feats with Lyon's star-studded squad before going on to fail elsewhere — see the ill-fated Everton tenure of Bompastor's treble-winning predecessor,
Read on football.london