Chelsea are considering hiring former Blues defender Juliano Belletti as their director of football to work alongside Antonio Conte’s possible replacement Luis Enrique.

Conte’s future is increasingly uncertain, with many sources suggesting he will leave in the summer despite 12 months remaining on his contract.

Chelsea have been preparing a wish-list in case Conte departs and Enrique’s name is at the top of it. It is understood the former Barcelona and Roma coach was first marked out as a potential Chelsea manager for the future two years ago.

Tellingly, the 47-year-old is available, unlike other targets Massimiliano Allegri or Maurizio Sarri, as he has not worked since leaving Barcelona at the end of last season.

The club are also looking at Belletti to fill the void left by Micheal Emenalo since his resignation in November.

Belletti spent three years as a player at Stamford Bridge between 2007-10, winning the FA Cup in 2009 and the Double 12 months later.

He works as an ambassador for another of his former clubs, Barcelona, and is a director of Brazilian second division club Coritiba.

The 41-year-old is still highly regarded by the Chelsea hierarchy, including director Marina Granovskaia, from his time there as a player. Belletti has a lack of experience in the role, but most of the responsibility will still lie with Granovskaia, who is in charge of transfer and contract negotiations.

Belletti and Enrique know each other well, even though they never worked together at Barcelona. Enrique’s playing career at the Nou Camp ended in 2004, the year Belletti arrived, and the latter only started his ambassadorial role after Enrique left last summer.

Enrique led Barcelona to nine major trophies between 2014-17, including the Champions League in 2015.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has always wanted the side to play attractive football and uniting two men with a strong Barcelona pedigree has great appeal.

Conte’s contract expires in 2019 and the Italian has never intimated he will quit, while Chelsea have dismissed the talk over his position as speculation.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s chances of signing Edin Dzeko are now below 50-50 according to sources in Italy. Conte wants to add another forward before the window closes, but negotiations with Roma and the forward have dragged on for more than a week.

The 31-year-old wants a deal until 2020 at least, but Chelsea have so far offered him one until 2019 with an option for another 12 months.

An added complication is the add-ons Roma are requesting, while another of their forwards, Patrik Schick, has suffered a leg injury so the importance of bringing in a replacement for Dzeko first has grown.

Chelsea hope to complete the transfer of Roma’s left wing-back Emerson Palmieri regardless, but are now looking at other forwards such as Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud and Tottenham’s Fernando Llorente.

Chelsea attacking midfielder Charly Musonda has travelled to Glasgow today to hold talks over an 18-month loan to Celtic.