Chelsea's next six games will determine the future of Claudio Ranieri as manager, with Chelsea believed already to be exploring other possibilities for the post.
Yesterday Bayern Munich's Ottmar Hitzfeld said he had been sounded out for the job, a claim that brought an abrupt denial from Chelsea. "I have received an offer [from Chelsea] but I will fulfil my contract until 2005," said Hitzfeld, who has won the European Cup with Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.
That produced an immediate response from Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon, who said: "This is totally untrue and without any foundation whatsoever. Chelsea have not made any approach to Ottmar Hitzfeld."
Kenyon, however, has been linked with Hitzfeld before. When he was chief executive at Manchester United he held inconclusive negotiations with the German over the possibility of him becoming Sir Alex Ferguson's successor. But the idea was scrapped when Ferguson decided not to retire.
Hitzfeld's future at Bayern is in doubt after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last week. They are second in the Bundesliga, nine points behind the leaders Werder Bremen.
The Stuttgart coach Felix Magath was reported to have met directors at the Olympic Stadium last month but the German champions' commercial manager Uli Hoeness said yesterday that he hoped Hitzfeld would stay on at least until the end of his contract.
"Our hope is that we finish the contract," Hoeness said when asked about Hitzfeld's future. "If we end the season all right, we will sit and talk about a possible extension."
Hitzfeld, 55, was appointed Bayern coach in 1998. Under his guidance the club won four Bundesliga titles, lifted the German Cup twice and won the Champions League in 2001.
Ranieri's position at Chelsea has come under intense scrutiny since the arrival of Kenyon this year. Days after taking office in February, Kenyon publicly warned Ranieri he had to "focus on winning something" this season and the coming sequence of games will have a crucial impact on Chelsea's Premiership and Champions League campaigns.
Ranieri's side lie second in the Premiership but lag nine points behind the leaders Arsenal, and the two clubs are set to meet in the Champions League quarter-finals over the next two weeks.
Ranieri knows that maximum points in home matches against Fulham, Wolves and Middlesbrough and the derby trip to Tottenham in the league would be the only credible foundation for a title push. After that, Chelsea face difficult trips to Aston Villa, currently in seventh, Newcastle and third-placed Manchester United, by when Arsenal may have sewn up the title.
Chelsea are also believed not to have given up hope of securing Sven-Goran Eriksson's services. The Swede visited Roman Abramovich in his London home shortly after he purchased the Stamford Bridge club, leading to feverish speculation that the coach would quit England for Chelsea. Eriksson this week reaffirmed his commitment to fulfil his contract with the Football Association, which runs to 2006, but it is clear that, having as yet refused to sign the offered extension, he has kept his options open.
Abramovich's oil firm Sibneft has agreed a $54m (£30m) sponsorship agreement with CSKA Moscow. The deal runs for three years but sources close to the Russian insist it will not affect his involvement in Chelsea.
