Jorge Sampaoli, the man Chelsea almost appointed as head coach, is the leading contender to succeed Luis Enrique at Barcelona.

Enrique is under huge pressure, following the shock last-16 Champions League thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, and his Barca contract expires at the end of the season.

Barca are a point behind Real Madrid in La Liga, having played two games more, and are only two points ahead of Sampaoli’s Sevilla.

Sampaoli was interviewed by Chelsea last year and claims to have only lost out to Antonio Conte because his command of English was not good enough.

What is certain is that Sampaoli got down to the last three candidates Chelsea considered before Sevilla appointed him to succeed Unai Emery, who took over at PSG.