14 February 2024 , 15:29
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The hunt for Emma Hayes’ replacement could be over with Chelsea Women having offered a contact to Lyon head coach Sonia Bompastor.
The long-time Blues boss will depart at the end of the season as she takes up the vacant manager position with the USWNT.
Selecting the candidate to replace one of women’s football’s most successful and influential managers in history was always going to prove to be a challenge. And while the process is still ongoing. Chelsea have zeroed in on the former Champions League winner Bompastor with the club negotiating a deal to appoint her, according to the Athletic.
The 43-year-old – who won the Champions League as a player and manager – was promoted to women’s head coach from her role within the Lyon academy following the departure of Jean-Luc Vasseur in April 2021. Her contract with the French giants is set to expire next year.
Bompastor’s tenure at Lyon was successful almost from the start, with the new manager leading Lyon to a comfortable double as they won the Division 1 Feminine and the Women’s Champions League.
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In total, Lyon went undefeated in 22 league matches that season while comprehensively beating Barcelona 3-1 in the final of the Champions League.
The following season saw Lyon retain their league title, though a disappointing quarter-final exit from the Champions League awaited as they lost in a penalty shootout to Chelsea following a 2-2 aggregate tie over two legs.
If Bombastor is to take the Chelsea position, she will be greeted by familiar faces. Indeed, both Catarina Macario and Kadeisha Buchanan were coached by Bompastor at Lyon before their transfers to west London in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
Lyon are currently into the quarter-finals of the Champions League again this season, while they are 10 points clear of Paris Saint-Germain in the French top flight.
Emma Hayes has won four successive league titles with Chelsea (PA)Bombastor’s managerial success is an extension of the success she relished as a player, winning eight league titles across her stints at Montpellier and Lyon, as well as two Champions Leagues at the latter.
Such a pedigree will be crucial if she is to replace Hayes. Since joining Chelsea in 2012, the 47-year-old has led the club to six WSL titles, five FA Cups, two FA Women’s League Cups, one FA Women’s Spring Series trophy, and one Women’s Community Shield.
San Diego Wave and former Manchester United Women manager Casey Stoney was one of the leading candidates to take over from Hayes, but the ex-England defender has since signed a new deal with the Wave keeping her in the NWSL.
Meanwhile, Laura Harvey, a former Arsenal manager now at Seattle Reign, was a club guest at Stamford Bridge for the Champions League match against Hacken in December - but recently indicated that she too is happy in the USA.