Roman Abramovich will try to persuade Pep Guardiola to become Chelsea boss before next summer if Roberto Di Matteo is axed.
The Daily Mail claims the Chelsea owner is losing patience with the Italian after a string of disappointing results in recent weeks following a good start to the season, and will step up his efforts to snare the former Barcelona boss.
Guardiola is on a self-imposed sabbatical from football in New York, having said he wanted a 12-month break and would not be willing to take up a new position until at least the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
However, Abramovich is determined to pull out all the stops to land the Spaniard if Di Matteo is fired just six months after winning the Champions League, with the Londoners ironically playing for their lives in this year’s competition when they take on Juventus tonight.
If they lose it will be the first time in Champions League history a club has gone out at the group stage after winning it the previous year, and Abramovich will waste no time in making Guardiola an offer he may find difficult to turn down.
