Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is desperate to make Pep Guardiola his next manager. Guardiola announced yesterday he would be leaving Barcelona at the end of the season.

The Telegraph says Chelsea representatives are expected to meet Guardiola in the next few days to discover whether he can finally be persuaded to join the club.

Abramovich has already promised Guardiola 'carte blanche' at Chelsea in terms of how the club are run and structured and which players are bought and sold.

Despite Guardiola's denials on Friday, it is maintained by Chelsea sources that he did meet Abramovich and the Russian's highly-influential personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia, in Paris.

It is also believed that Guardiola has discussed the matter with former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is now the head coach of Paris St-Germain.