Roman Abramovich wants to offer former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola a £20 million-a-season contract to take over at Chelsea in the summer.
It is being suggested the Chelsea owner's 'trigger happy' attitude to managers - eight sacked in nine-and-a-half years - is putting off Guardiola, who is currently taking a year out of the game in New York after leaving the Nou Camp.
Indeed, reports suggest that technical director Michael Emenalo is drawing up a backup list which includes Jurgen Klopp, however, it was learnt that Abramovich is determined to win the race for Guardiola, despite intense interest from PSG, AC Milan and Bayern Munich.