Six reasons why Emma Hayes' replacement Sonia Bompastor can be a success at Chelsea

First of all, Bompastor is walking into a team that has been winning trophies for the past nine years, including a fifth-successive league title in May, so it's pretty well set-up. Chelsea is a club that invests, it is committed to its women's team and it has been left recommendations by Hayes which she hopes it will act on to keep that success coming.

But it also has a playing squad which has been built with the future in mind, and that will be a huge help for Bompastor as she settles in as there is not going to be a huge transition period in terms of personnel. Chelsea boast a great blend of experienced stars, players approaching their primes, youngsters who have shown great things at the top level and even younger players who are currently following their development plans well, with the aim of getting into the first-team.

It's a versatile squad, too, so while Bompastor will likely want to add a few pieces over this summer transfer window and beyond, she should have the players at her disposal that fit into the way she wants to work.

Bompastor fits into that future planning Chelsea have been doing because of her track record with young players, too. The club has put real emphasis on signing bright, teenage talent in recent years, and the new boss should be able to pick up where Hayes left off in bringing them through.

Before being appointed as Lyon's head coach, Bompastor spent eight years managing the club's academy, and so it has been no surprise to see her give young players their chance in the first team over the last three years, either by bringing talents like Alice Sombath and Liana Joseph through the system, or trusting in those brought in at young ages from elsewhere, such as Vicki Becho and Melchie Dumornay.

On the flip side, Bompastor also has experience from her time in Lyon of managing those superstars and the egos that inevitably come from doing so. While it might look easy from the outside to have a squad packed full of established internationals, as it provides incredible depth and experience, it can also be tough when you are benching them or managing minutes.

Bompastor's success as a player and a manager, which has seen her lift three Champions League titles, will command the respect of the dressing room from the off as well, which makes it easier for managers to have players accept their decisions.

Bompastor and Hayes are different in many ways, but one similarity is how flexible they can both be with their game plans. While both like to have the lion's share of possession, they are humble enough to recognise when there are match-ups that would be better approached with a more counter-attacking mindset that involves restricting an opponent in a certain way or pressing them high.

Chelsea did not have a non-negotiable style of play during Hayes' 12 years, just a staff that found ways to dominate and win, and Bompastor doesn't arrive with some overwhelming philosophy that she needs lots of time to implement, though she will have ideas she would like to put in place. It means she doesn't need particular players to fit into her team either, but rather footballers who are versatile, which Chelsea have plenty of. It should all help the players and their new coach work together well, without major delays.

With three Champions League titles to her name, Bompastor knows all about the pressure that will come from following in Hayes' footsteps, too. She has spent the last three years in charge of a Lyon side which is expected to win several trophies every year, as the perennial French champions and eight-time queens of Europe, so she should have no issues dealing with the demands of Chelsea.

With her having endured that pressure as a player as well as a manager, she'll know exactly what her players are coping with, too, as they look to maintain their dominance in England while entering a new chapter in the quest to win Chelsea's first European title.

Above all, Bompastor is a winner. As a player, she lifted 14 major honours for Montpellier and Lyon, even earning the honour of captaining the latter, and she has added another seven in her three years in charge of OL. She knows what it takes to get over the line, to get the job done and deliver success. That is an imperative quality to bring to the table when managing a team full of winners, at a club that claimed silverware on 16 separate occasions in Hayes' tremendous and transformative 12 years at the helm.

Bompastor has big shoes to fill, but she has plenty of the qualities needed to do so.