Liam Rosenior did his best to sidestep questions about the Chelsea job on Friday but admitted he has had contact with owners BlueCo and refused to commit his future to Strasbourg, despite “loving” the club.

Sources have told ESPN that Rosenior, the boss of Ligue 1‘s Strasbourg who are also under BlueCo ownership, is the frontrunner to replace Enzo Maresca, who was sacked on Thursday.

Rosenior addressed reporters in a news conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Nice.

“I’m going to talk about Nice because that’s my job,” he said when asked about Chelsea.

When pushed, he added: “There’s a lot of noise, a lot of speculation, but as a coach, if you get involved, you fail. My job is here, I love this club.”

But Rosenior did admit to there being contact with Chelsea, he says largely because of the shared ownership.

“There are exchanges because we are part of the same group,” he said.

When asked if he could rule out a move to Chelsea, he replied: “I’m honest, you can never control everything in life. I could say I’m going to stay here for years and then get fired.

“In life, there are zero guarantees. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

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“I’m just doing my job. There’s already been speculation. I don’t want to guarantee how long I’ll be here, but I enjoy myself here every day. I intend to continue doing so as long as I’m here. I love this club, but I can’t guarantee anything. Nobody can.

“I want to do my job here, it’s simple. The reality today is that I am the manager of Strasbourg and I am focused on my position.”

Rosenior also said there had been a “few light-hearted jokes” from players about the speculation.

“I haven’t spoken to the players about it.

“There’s no need, they’re connected and I’ve had a few light-hearted jokes. But we’ve been focused on our work. The goal is to continue creating great things here.”

Although sources have been keen to stress that Rosenior, 41, is not the only contender, Roberto de Zerbi is not under consideration despite the Marseille boss being interviewed prior to Maresca’s appointment in 2024.

Information from ESPN’s James Olley was used in this report.