The Blues find themselves in a difficult place as the Premier League season starts to draw to a close, lying ninth in the table with five games remaining to play, leaving them well off the Champions League spots.

Reports on Wednesday suggested that Chelsea had started targeting Thiago Motta ahead of the summer, aiming to transfer the high-flying Bologna coach to West London ahead of next season, keen to replace Pochettino after a painful campaign.

La Repubblica details how Chelsea are seriously interested in bringing Conte back to West London for a second term and have been in constant contact in recent days, presenting a substantial offer to try and convince him of the move.

Milan and Napoli are both eyeing the Italian tactician as well, although the former’s concentration on a younger sustainable project looks unlikely to lure the coach and the latter have been waiting for a breakthrough for months.