Chelsea manager Avram Grant may be living on borrowed time at Stamford Bridge. The Sunday Mirror claims the Israeli coach will become Chelsea’s director of soccer at the beginning of the summer, making way for the arrival of a new coach — who will most likely be Dutch, according to Goal.com, which names Russia’s Guus Hiddink and Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard as possible replacements. The Mirror reports that Grant has welcomed the idea and has told close friends he will be making way for a new boss this summer.
Despite the Blues’ comprehensive 4-0 win away to West Ham on Saturday, the Chelsea locker room remains an unsettled place. The News of the World reports that Grant faces a “battle with Barcelona and Real Madrid over its star players,” who threatened to leave if Grant remains manager beyond this summer. The report claims that Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho are all unhappy at Stamford Bridge, and that Barcelona wants Lampard and Drogba while Real is courting Essien and Carvalho.
The paper adds Grant’s assistant coaches, Dutchman Henk Ten Cate and Scot Steve Clarke, are also “uncomfortable” with the Israeli.