Bengaluru, Feb 13: Chelsea will not make any major managerial appointment in the mid-season and will hand the charge to assistant boss Gianfranco Zola until the summer instead if Maurizio Sarri is sacked, claim reports.

Sarri managed to provide a 14 match unbeaten streak at the start of the campaign, however, the side started falling short on desired targets lately. They were beaten handsomely twice in last three games, one to minnows Bournemouth 4-0 and another to league leaders Manchester City with a 6-0 humiliation last week.

The awful run of form has put them sixth in the league table leaving their plans of returning to the Champions League in jeopardy.

Sarri is now reportedly set for crunch talks over his future at Stamford Bridge and should he be sacked, as per Italian media Sport Mediaset, former Chelsea legend and current assistant of Sarri, Zola will be given the caretaker role to move the club forward.

In the earlier instances, Dutch manager Guss Hiddink took charge of the side on an interim basis on a couple of occasions. But this time, the club believes that Zola, the former West Ham and Watford boss, can bring stability into the team until the end of the season before a big name appointment is made in Summer.

The west London club has positive records when it comes to putting former players and other managers in charge of a custodian role. Roberto Di Matteo took over on an interim basis and famously guided them to their first Champions League title in 2012 while Rafael Benitez guided them to the Europa League trophy.

Zola, however, does not have a good managerial CV. He won only 23 of his 83 matches in charge of West Ham between 2008 and 2010. The Italian enjoyed a more successful time at Watford but lasted only 18 months and his most recent job at Birmingham ended after just four months and two victories in 24 matches.

But after Solskajer's impact in an unstable dressing room at Manchester United, the Blues fans now can dream of a similar situation with their club legend in charge.