Chelsea could turn to a young manager to oversee an upturn in fortunes at Stamford Bridge if, as expected, Antonio Conte departs at the end of the season.
A string of elite names from across Europe, such as Maurizio Sarri, Luis Enrique and Leonardo Jardim, are on the shortlist to head to west London but chairman Roman Abramovich may turn to an up-and-coming coach for next season.
According to The Telegraph, Abramovich has been impressed by Mauricio Pochettino's impact at Tottenham and is said to be weighing up whether replicating that model with a coach who can introduce young players to a first-team playing attractive football is a long-term solution.
Should he pursue that mould of manager, advisors have told Abramovich that Roma's Eusebio Di Francesco, Hoffenheim's Julian Nagelsmann and even Huddersfield's David Wagner are worthy of consideration.
Di Francesco has only been at Roma since last summer but has impressed in guiding the Italian side to the Champions League semi-final, knocking out Barcelona on the way.
The 48-year-old played for Roma for four years from 1997-2001 and returned as manager from Sassuolo, who he guided from Serie B to the Europa League in a five-year tenure.
Nagelsmann, 30, has been manager of Hoffenheim since 2015 - when he was 28 - and almost guided them into the Champions League group stages for the first time in history this season, only to be eliminated by Liverpool in the final qualifying round.
They are currently sixth in the Bundesliga standings.
A younger coach with a long-term vision is, of course, something Abramovich has tried to implement before when he appointed Andre Villas-Boas as manager in June 2011.
The Portuguese, then 33, arrived at Stamford Bridge after guiding an unbeaten Porto to a league and cup double, while also winning the Europa League.
But in London, Villas-Boas found things much harder and could not retain authority in a dressing room featuring the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
He was sacked after nine months, in March 2012, after one win in 12 matches.
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