Rumour: Chelsea join race for Manchester United, Real Madrid managerial target Mauricio Pochettino

Bengaluru, Feb 4: Chelsea are reportedly ready to challenge Manchester United and Real Madrid to lure Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino to Stamford Bridge.

It is understood that the current Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is already under pressure despite only taking over in the summer.

According to reports in England, Roman Abramovich has texted Sarri for the Italian to explain recent results, notably the 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth, and to tell him he will be fired if he fails to qualify for the Champions League.

That would, of course, mean the search for a new manager would be on and reports suggest the Blues would go for Pochettino.

He was believed to have been one of the coaches they were interested in last summer but opted instead for the former Napoli boss.

Despite a strong start, shock defeats to Wolves, Leicester and Bournemouth have piled the pressure on the Italian gaffer.

But the 5-0 thumping of Huddersfield yesterday, including two goals from January signing Gonzalo Higuain, will no doubt have alleviated some of that.

Even if Abramovich does go for Pochettino, though, he will struggle to get him in.

Not only would it cost more than £50million in compensation after the Argentine coach signed a new five-year contract last summer, but Daniel Levy will be desperate to cling on to him.

Add into the mix that Chelsea and Spurs simply do not get on and it makes it very difficult to imagine the Blues convincing their rivals into allowing Pochettino to switch to Stamford Bridge.

Their rivalry was evident on Thursday when Tottenham enquired about taking Michy Batshuayi on loan but were quoted an £8million loan fee, four times the figure West Ham were given. Manchester United initially made Pochettino their No1 target to replace Jose Mourinho permanently in the summer.

But a string of fine results from interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has won eight out of his nine games in charge going into today's game at Leicester, means the Norwegian is now understood to be Old Trafford chief's preferred option.