It's no secret that Chelsea have wanted to appoint Maurizio Sarri as manager to replace Antonio Conte.

The Italian manager even left Napoli at the end of the 2017/18 season as he looked to force through a move.

But recent developments suggest that Sarri will not become Chelsea boss.

According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea have shelved plans to appoint him as manager.

Why? The report states that he is no longer the top candidate as there are serious concerns about his past, with Chelsea reluctant to appoint a controversial manager.

Sarri had a heated exchange with Roberto Mancini in 2016, where the former was accused of hurling homophobic slurs.

The former Napoli boss was fined €20,000 and banned for two Coppa Italia matches.

There were also issues regarding his cost, with Sarri's £7million release clause at Napoli deemed to be problematic, but it's this incident in 2016 that is the bigger of the two issues.

So, who will Chelsea turn to now?

The Mail go on to state that Laurent Blanc has moved into pole position, but they are also considering an approach for a shock name.

That man is none other than Avram Grant.

Although Blanc remains the preferred candidate, Grant remains a 'key member of Abramovich’s inner sanctum', and the Russian knows he can turn to him if his plans go pear shaped.

Wow.

The Isreali manager has managed Chelsea before, but not to great success.

He did manage to steer Chelsea to a second-place finish in the Premier League, as well as Champions League and League Cup finals, but he was sacked after failing to win any silverware in his only season as boss.

The 63-year-old then had a decent season at Portsmouth but resigned after just a season, and was then sacked at West Ham after leading the club to relegation from England's top tier.

Grant has since managed at Partizan and Ghana, and now finds himself at NorthEast United FC in the Indian Premier League.

It would be a giant leap indeed to go from India to one of the biggest jobs in world football.

This is, of course, if Conte decides to leave anyway.

The Italian has previously reiterated that he will not leave on his own accord, but the club will have to pay him £9 million in compensation if they do decide to replace him.

Chelsea fans would probably rather Conte stayed than having Grant as his replacement anyway...

Who do you want to as the new Chelsea manager? Would you welcome Grant? Have your say by leaving a comment below.