TheSportsCampus

Forty two year old Italian Roberto di Matteo, who famously led Chelsea to their maiden Champions League triumph last month , has been offered a new 2-year deal by the club. The interim boss was the players' and the fans' favourite to take the helm at Stamford Bridge following Chelsea’s spectacular double under the rookie manager's leadership.

An official statement released by Chief executive Ron Gourlay on the club's website stated: 'Roberto's quality was clear for all to see when he galvanised the squad last season and helped the club make history, and the owner and board are very pleased he will be continuing his good work.

'We all believed he was a young coach with much to offer when we first asked him to take charge of team affairs in March and the manner in which he worked with us, the players and all the staff, and the success that followed, made him the clear choice when it came to selecting the person to take us forward in the seasons to come.

'We will be working closely with Roberto in the weeks ahead, some exciting signings have already been made and Roberto has had input into those. Although he has set the bar very high in the short time he has been in charge, we know that Roberto is the right man to lead Chelsea onto further success.'

The former Chelsea midfielder started his managerial career at League One club Milton Keynes Dons. This was followed by an unsuccessful spell at West Bromwich Albion, where he was sacked following a slew of bad results. The Italian then joined Chelsea in the capacity of Assistant Manager to Andre Villas-Boas. But the Portuguese manager failed at the club due to his unpopular tactics and was dismissed in March this year.

Di Matteo then took charge of a Blues side that was in tatters. They were in free fall in the Premier League and were almost out of the Champions League as well, after a 3-1 first-leg loss to Napoli in the Round of 16. However, the Italian did a fantastic job turning around their fortunes as Chelsea completed an astonishing double winning the Champions League beating Barcelona and Bayern Munich while also capturing the FA Cup, beating Liverpool in the final at Wembley.

The players have applauded the manager for his old-school methods and they will be ecstatic that owner Roman Abramovich has shown faith in Di Matteo’s ability to take Chelsea to new heights. Everyone will be watching with bated breath as Europe’s most discussed manager sets about his work at Stamford Bridge, with the pressure of expectations to repeat his success for Chelsea.

File Photograph Copyright: Janblahnik