There is pressure on Chelsea to get this appointment right, with some supporters chanting the name of former owner Roman Abramovich during Sunday’s draw at Manchester City and a fringe group of fans planning a protest against the owners before the next home Premier League match against Brentford.
It is against that backdrop they have turned to a man who is well known to key figures at Stamford Bridge.
Rosenior first met Chelsea‘s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart more than 15 years ago while playing for Brighton.
And Sam Jewell – Chelsea‘s director of global recruitment – worked closely with Rosenior when he began coaching Brighton Under-23s after retiring.
Rosenior also knew Stewart during his time as an analyst at Hull, where he played and later managed.
Last summer, during the Club World Cup, he travelled to the United States with Strasbourg president Marc Keller to meet Chelsea‘s leadership, and owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly have made regular visits to the French club.
He has always been seen as a potential successor to Maresca, but a mid-season change was not planned. Chelsea hoped Rosenior could continue to build experience at Strasbourg, but Maresca’s comments at the end of last year forced the owners into a change.
They see their new man, who favours a similar possession-based style, as the most seamless option.
Sources close to Rosenior also believe he has a more empathetic tone of communication – drawing on lessons from his mother Karen, who is a social worker.
He will face scrutiny over his perceived rawness, but Chelsea will point to the fact he has more experience than Maresca when the Italian was appointed in 2024.
Maresca had won the Championship, of course, while Rosenior has yet to lift a trophy – but the incoming coach has managed 153 senior games at Hull and Strasbourg compared with his predecessor’s 67. Maresca was also Pep Guardiola’s assistant during Manchester City‘s Treble-winning season of 2022-23.
There is also the issue of Rosenior coming to Chelsea on a bad run of form, having won none of his past five Ligue 1 matches, just two in 10, and having dropped 13 points from winning positions this season.
French football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I really believe the owners put him in the Strasbourg job to get him ready for the Chelsea job one day.
“I think if he showed he could be capable at Strasbourg, which is taking a team which was almost going down into Europe – to taking it close to Champions League qualification, which is what he did last season.
“I think that showed his potential. It showed his development, showed his ability to improve the team and players individually.”