Soccer-Strasbourg's Rosenior does not rule out replacing Maresca at Chelsea

Jan 2 (Reuters) – Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior is not ruling out the possibility of replacing Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, with the 41-year-old saying on Friday that he could not guarantee he will remain at the French club until the end of the season. According to English media reports, Rosenior is the most likely candidate to replace Maresca who parted ways with Chelsea on Thursday after a poor run of results and a fallout with club owners, despite having won the Club World Cup in July. Rosenior, who previously managed Hull City, joined Strasbourg in July 2024 and took them to a seventh-place finish in Ligue 1 last season, qualifying for the Conference League, a competition which Maresca won with Chelsea. A bright start this season had Strasbourg third in the standings and one point off top spot in November but four games without a win has dropped them to seventh, 14 points adrift of leaders RC Lens. Strasbourg, who topped the league phase standings in the Conference League, are away to Nice on Saturday but at Friday's press conference, Rosenior's possible departure for Chelsea was the main topic of interest. "I'm calm. There is a lot of noise and speculation," Rosenior told reporters. "If you pay attention to it as a coach, you go crazy. We are working on the preparation for the Nice match. I'm the coach of Strasbourg and I hope we get a good result." Adding fuel to the speculation surrounding Rosenior is the fact that Strasbourg and Chelsea are part of the same multi-club ownership structure, with the French club taken over by Todd Boehly's consortium BlueCo in 2023. "We work with the same owner. I have regular contact with the people at Chelsea," Rosenior said when asked if there had been contact with Chelsea's directors in recent days. "The truth is that I have no control over what happens. "There are no guarantees in life. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. I love my job here. I love this club, I can't guarantee anything. No one can do that." (Reporting by Trevor Stynes Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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