Julian Nagelsmann may reject Chelsea offer after snubbing Real Madrid

For the second time under Todd Boehly, and the eighth time in the last 10 years, Chelsea are on the search for a new manager. Graham Potter was sacked on Sunday evening and immediately Julian Nagelsmann was made the No 1 favourite to replace him.

Nagelsmann was only recently sacked by Bayern Munich and replaced by ex-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel who himself was axed by Boehly in September. Despite that, he remains regarded as one of the game’s brightest young minds at just 35 years of age.

He overachieved with Hoffenheim and also did fine work at RB Leipzig. While his spell with Bayern ended disappointingly, he did deliver the Bundesliga title in his first season and they won six of six in two Champions League group stage campaigns.

So highly rated is the German that he was approached by Real Madrid in 2019, before he had even turned 31. But Nagelsmann’s response to the Spanish giants – despite such an alluring opportunity – means there is every chance he might also reject Chelsea.

He told the Independent three years ago: “I want to improve. If you go to Real Madrid, there’s no time to improve as a manager. You don’t have a chance to be a better manager, you already have to be the best.”

He added: “I am a young manager and it appealed to me to work at a club where the structure is clear, where there are not 20 guys all with an opinion that takes you in different directions. At Leipzig I can decide and things happen quickly because the vision is the same across the club.”

That does not sound much like Chelsea under Boehly. In less than 12 months, they have burned through two coaches and £553million on 17 new signings. There is no doubt that the American owner’s lavish spending actually had a negative effect on Potter, who struggled to manage a bloated squad.

And while there is certainly appeal to having such financial backing, there has so far been little evidence of the kind of organisation that Nagelsmann talks of wanting. The Blues will hope to convince the ex-Bayern boss, though, that that has changed.

Christopher Vivell was installed as technical director at Stamford Bridge in December with Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley made co-sporting directors in February. But will Nagelsmann be convinced that the club are now on a new – more structured – path?

His previous comments on Real Madrid suggest the Londoners need to put quite the sales pitch together. What he would have at the Bridge though is a squad brimming with young talent. There is potential for major improvement there.

Chelsea will hope that the collaboration between Vivell and Nagelsmann which worked well at Leipzig can help prove to the tactician that they are indeed improving the way they work. And his words about Leipzig to the Independent show Chelsea know exactly what they need to do if they want him.

He explained: “They really fought to get me. It’s important as a manager that you feel a club believes in you and your methods. Oliver Mintzlaff and Ralf Rangnick showed me this. They called me over a year before they wanted me at Leipzig and told me why and how it would work.

“The next day, there was a contract sent to my email. It took just 20 hours after we spoke for it to arrive and that is not normal. A lot of clubs in the summer period phoned me and said ‘perhaps we’d like to have you.’ There was no perhaps with Leipzig.”