Chelsea Line Up Ajax Coach to Become Their Director of Football

It will come as little surprise to some that Chelsea have wasted no time in seeking a replacement for Avram Grant although the Israeli can breathe a sigh of relief that it is his former position and not the coach's post which is believed to have been offered to the Dutchman Henk ten Cate. Reports in Holland suggest that Cate, who is the current Ajax coach, has held talks with Frank Arnesen at Chelsea, with a view to becoming director of football at the Premier League club.

The latest development behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge came on a night when Chelsea rediscovered their ruthless edge on the pitch, with Grant overseeing a hugely impressive victory to repeat Jose Mourinho's feat here six months ago when the former manager inspired the Blues to a memorable triumph in the quarter-finals. This result could be considered every bit as important given the pressure on Grant and the failure to defeat Rosenborg 16 days ago.

That humbling evening against the Norwegian side, who returned home with a 1-1 after holding the lead, had culminated in Mourinho leaving the club although suggestions that Chelsea's indomitable spirit had departed with the Portuguese were disproved here. Having conceded an early goal when David Villa broke through the visitors' defense before slotting past Petr Cech, Chelsea showed a determination that has not been so obvious in the previous three matches under Grant to glean three points.

Joe Cole provided the inspiration for the turnaround, with the England midfielder tapping in Florent Malouda's cross before delivering a sublime pass to release Didier Drogba in the 70th minute that the Ivory Coast international expertly steered past the Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand.

Earlier in the evening the speculation surrounding Ten Cate prompted Chelsea to release a carefully worded statement before the match. "Avram Grant, as first-team coach, has made it publicly clear several times that he intends to strengthen his backroom team in addition to his assistant coach Steve Clarke. One of the scenarios Avram is considering is a team containing a British assistant coach in Steve and a foreign assistant coach, a system the first team are already familiar with."

Ajax would not comment last night but sources in Holland indicate that Ten Cate, who did not deny there has been an approach from Chelsea, is receptive to the idea of joining the Premier League club. The 52-year-old, who previously worked alongside Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, helping the Spanish club to win the European Cup in 2006, joined Ajax at the start of last season but indicated then that he did not intend to stay beyond the end of the current campaign.

However that may change, with Grant suggesting on Tuesday that the international break would be used to recruit coaching staff. The Israeli also claimed he would not be seeking a replacement for Steve Clarke, Chelsea's long-serving assistant manager, although reports have suggested the Scot is considering ending to his relationship with the club.

Ten Cate's managerial and coaching experience is largely confined to Holland, although it was with Barcelona, in his role as assistant to Rijkaard, that he came to prominence. That period included several volatile meetings with Chelsea, with the last-16 tie at Camp Nou in February 2005 prompting Ten Cate to brand the London club "pathetic".

The Dutchman was outraged at Chelsea's complaint to Uefa after Jose Mourinho accused Rijkaard of entering the referee's dressing room at half-time during Barcelona's 2-1 win in the first leg after Chelsea had taken the lead.

Arnesen's suspected involvement in attempting to entice Ten Cate to Cheszea suggests that the club's sporting director retains a valued role at Stamford Bridge. It is unclear, though, how Grant would view the arrival of Cate, whose managerial experience includes spells at the Dutch clubs, Go Ahead Eagles, SC Heracles, FC Rheden, Sparta Rotterdam, Vitesse, KFC Uerdingen and NAC Breda as well as the Hungarian side MTK Hungaria FC.