Slavisa Jokanovic has been in talks with Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea have spoken to Slavisa Jokanovic about taking over from Antonio Conte as manager, according to reports in Italy.

Maurizio Sarri was the favourite to succeed Conte at Stamford Bridge but negotiations have broken down with Napoli due to concerns around his past behaviour.

It’s understood Luis Enrique is now in pole position for the role, with some reports suggesting that Chelsea are poised to unveil the former Barcelona man in the coming days.

However, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, Fulham boss Jokanovic has emerged as a possible managerial target for the Blues.


Jokanovic, who steered Fulham to the Premier League with a playoff final victory over Aston Villa, held a meeting with Chelsea officials on Friday.

Slavisa Jokanovic won the Championship playoff final with Fulham (Picture: Getty)

The Blues have dropped their interest in Maurizio Sarri (Picture: Getty)

The 49-year-old will hold further discussions with Chelsea on Saturday evening but his relative inexperience makes him an outsider for the job.



Roman Abramovich knows Jokanovic well from the Serbian’s time as a player at Stamford Bridge and the pair have been negotiating in Russian.

Chelsea are yet to resolve Conte’s awkward situation at the club, with the Italian set for a £9million compensation payout should he get the sack.

Laurent Blanc and Avram Grant are among the other candidates on the club’s shortlist to replace Conte.

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