Steve Holland Being Considered as Interim Chelsea Manager as Maurizio Sarri's Job Hangs in Balance

Chelsea are considering England assistant manager Steve Holland as an interim replacement for Maurizio Sarri should he fail to save his job in the coming games against Manchester City and Tottenham. 

Though Europa League victory against Malmo alleviated a bit of the pressure, Sarri's position in the Stamford Bridge dugout remains in the balance, and it is understood his next two games are crucial to his future. Failure in both will likely result in his sacking. 

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And, as reported by the Telegraph, Holland is seen as the number one target to guide the Blues through the remainder of the 2018/19 season should the Italian's contract be terminated. 

However, they would have to first convince both the coach and the FA that combining his England duties with his club role would not compromise his existing position for the national team. 

Rumours sparked surrounding the former Chelsea assistant's prospects of taking the top job after he was pictured alongside England boss Gareth Southgate at Monday night's FA Cup clash with Manchester United, which the Blues would go on to lose 2-0 in ignominious fashion. 

The club have maintained no contact has been made between them and any potential successors to the 60-year-old tactician.

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Holland spent six years working at Chelsea from 2011 to 2017, before he was released to the FA to take up his England role with Southgate, having worked alongside the 48-year-old in his capacity as England Under-21 manager since 2013.

He has held the caretaker role at the Bridge previously, having stepped in for one game following Jose Mourinho's sacking in 2015. 

Current assistant manager Gianfranco Zola is also in consideration, but despite his gargantuan popularity with fans, the club's hierarchy have some reservations about his capacity to be top dog, even if he's held more of such roles than Holland has in his career.