Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will need to resist the temptation of a four-year deal worth £40million ($60million) after-tax, which Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is willing to dangle in front of him, according to reports in The Sun newspaper.
The newspaper reports that Abramovich is willing to pay the annual £10m salary in cash to prize the all-conquering Barcelona boss away from the Nou Camp when his deal expires at season's end.
Pep reportedly earns £8m before tax in Spain.
Reports on Saturday suggest that France coach Laurent Blanc is the preferred alternative if Guardiola or former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho are beyond reach.
If caretaker coach Roberto Di Matteo is replaced, they will become the eighth boss at Stamford Bridge, with Abramovich having spent almost £150m on wages, compensations and pay-offs for Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luis Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas in his time at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, Chelsea captain John Terry insists that current coach Roberto Di Matteo is not a Stamford Bridge puppet and that the Italian is firmly in control of team affairs.
"In response to comments suggesting that I think I'm the manager, I'd like to say Robbie has stepped up and been immense," Terry told the Evening Standard newspaper.
Terry, standing to the side of Di Matteo, was spotted screaming orders at his teammates from the bench after being substituted in last week's dramatic Champions League win over Napoli.
"I am Chelsea through and through, whether I am on the pitch or off it," added the 31-year-old.
"Had I still been on the pitch, I would have been saying the same things that I was from the bench. That is my role as captain of this club.
"Just because I have come off the pitch, it doesn't mean to say my mentality changes.
"People might see it in the wrong way, but I care about this football club - we all do - and Robbie and his backroom staff deserve full credit."
