Luis Enrique travels to London for talks with Chelsea according to reports

Enrique, who has been without a team since Spain's early elimination at the hands of Morocco at the World Cup, travelled to London early on Wednesday to open talks with Chelsea's board.

Following the abrupt departure of Graham Potter (47), who was sacked after the weekend defeat to Aston Villa, the club put together a list of candidates, with Zinedine Zidane (50), Mauricio Pochettino (51) and Julian Nagelsmann (35) also in the running.

Enrique, according to reports in the British media, is winning the race and has travelled to the English capital with Ivan de la Pena - an agent and close friend of the manager - for talks with the board.

The Blues are 11th in the Premier League and are in something of a crisis. Since the departure of Thomas Tuchel (49), their results have been so poor that they've failed to stay in the top half of the Premier League. On Tuesday, they played out a goalless draw against a sluggish Liverpool side who are not assured of European qualification either.

Bernabeu debut?

Time is against Chelsea, who in less than 12 days will visit the Bernabeu and face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Realistically, beating Los Blancos and winning the tournament is the only way the English side can secure a place in next season's edition of it.

Given the importance of the match, the club will want to have a new manager in place for it, so any appointment will most likely go through quickly.