Chelsea hero Franck Leboeuf says former teammate Roberto di Matteo should be handed the permanent manager's job.

The Italian has emerged as the favourite to take charge at Stamford Bridge again, albeit reportedly on a one-year rolling deal.

"He proved in four months that he had knowledge about football and what he did was absolutely fantastic. He used the strengths Chelsea had," Leboeuf said on TalkSPORT.

"He knew how to cope with the situation with senior players, he put a very good atmosphere into the dressing room, and he won two titles.

"They would have been stupid not to offer him at least a year.

"We will see what will happen afterwards, because we know [former Barcelona manager] [Pep] Guardiola is back next year and maybe that is what [owner] [Roman] Abramovich has in mind, but at least Roberto would have another year to prove he is a good coach."