Ancelotti to BlueCo? Carlo's son Davide applied to succeed Chelsea-bound Liam Rosenior at Strasbourg role before Gary O'Neil appointment

Following Enzo Maresca's Chelsea departure in early January, the Premier League side moved quickly to appoint Strasbourg boss Rosenior. The former Hull City coach expressed his delight at joining the Blues - who, like Strasbourg, are also owned by BlueCo - but also expressed his gratitude to the Ligue 1 outfit. 

After being sworn in at Stamford Bridge, he said: "I was fully focused on Strasbourg's last match but what has happened since is I have been given permission - one of the biggest clubs in the world - who are Club World Cup champions. It is an honour to speak to a club like that and on this day it looks like I will be the manager of that football club. It's an unbelievable opportunity at an incredible club, the world champions, and one I just couldn't turn down. And I can go home, and see my kids. I have made a sacrifice being away from them."

He added, "It's been the best 18 months of my professional career here at Strasbourg. I have met some incredible people and none of that happens without the hard work of everyone connected with this football club."

According to L'Equipe, Strasbourg received many applications following Rosenior's departure - and one of them was from Ancelotti. The Italian has had assistant coaching roles under his father at Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Everton, in addition to managing Botafogo for six months before being sacked last December. He was also a candidate for the Reims job in 2024, partly due to his ability to speak English, Italian, French, and Spanish. But, it seems his lack of experience as a manager did him a disservice in his bid to take over at Strasbourg. Eventually, O'Neil was chosen and the rest is history.

Former Bournemouth and Wolves boss O'Neil became Strasbourg's new manager last week, with the 42-year-old hoping to build on the stellar work Rosenior has done in the French city. The former Portsmouth midfielder said he was "proud" to join a club with "high-quality squad and clear, ambitious goals for the season".

He stated: "I am proud to join this incredible club and I can’t wait to get started. We have a squad of very high quality and clear, ambitious objectives for the season. My priority is to work hard with the team and give everything for the success of the club. Racing has a unique history, extraordinary passion, great resilience and, of course, loyal supporters who want to see this team play attractive football and succeed."

Rosenior was in the Chelsea dugout for the first time as the Blues thumped London neighbours Charlton Athletic 5-1 in round three of the FA Cup last weekend, while O'Neil guided Strasbourg to a romping 6-0 rout of Avranches in the Coupe de France round of 32 in his first match in charge. On Wednesday, Chelsea are back in Carabao Cup action when they host Arsenal in the first leg of their semi-final, whereas the French side host Metz in Ligue 1 on Sunday.