Chelsea have already opened talks for two of their summer transfer targets. The Guardian says former manager Andre Villas had identified Edinson Cavani, the Napoli forward, to replace Didier Drogba on the back of the Uruguayan's brilliant performances in Serie A and the Champions League, while he had also asked Roman Abramovich for the money to sign Hulk, the Brazilian striker who had helped him win the Portuguese title with Porto.

The initial advances had already been made for both players, with Abramovich particularly involved in the case of Cavani, and it may still be that one or both of them is targeted regardless of who replaces Villas-Boas on a permanent basis.