Ambitious Chelsea want Guardiola for manager

Roman Abramovich will clear out some of Chelsea's biggest names this summer and is determined to see through the 'project' started by Andre Villas-Boas to create what one source said was a "hungry new team".

Unless there is a dramatic change of heart by the owner, a number of Chelsea's most experienced players, headed by Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda, are in danger of being forced out of the club. Others such as Salomon Kalou - who, like Drogba, has a deal that runs out in June - will go. Even captain John Terry is not 100 per cent safe, it is believed.

It remains to be seen whether Abramovich is able to carry out the changes he wants because it has proved difficult in the past to move on high-earning players. It might also depend on who he hires to succeed Villas-Boas. Pep Guardiola is the Russian billionaire's first choice, ahead of the return of Jose Mourinho, although an approach will not be made yet with Chelsea having to ascertain whether the Spaniard wants to remain at Barcelona or is prepared to move.

Chelsea will also see which other coaches are available - it is believed Fabio Capello and Rafael Benitez have been ruled out - and there is even the remote possibility that if Roberto Di Matteo is successful as interim manager he could remain beyond this season. That would, however, depend on drastic improvement in form starting with this evening's FA Cup fifth-round replay at Birmingham.

It is understood that Abramovich is keen for Fernando Torres to be restored to the starting line-up for the match and Di Matteo's future, like that of his predecessors, may also depend on getting the best out of the Spanish striker who has struggled terribly since his pounds 50?million move from Liverpool in January 2010.

Abramovich is angry and frustrated at the failure of the Villas-Boas regime, just eight months into taking over from Carlo Ancelotti, which had a clear remit of rebuilding the squad and playing more attractive, attacking football. The owner, who personally selected the Portuguese, believed he had to make a change and that Villas-Boas had lost the backing of the Chelsea dressing room with results deteriorating and the manager struggling to turn things round. However, Abramovich told the players, in a meeting at the training ground on Sunday, immediately after he personally fired Villas-Boas, that he also held them accountable.

Some were accused of not trying, others of being disruptive, and the whole squad were told they were playing for their future at Chelsea. Yesterday club sources insisted that this was not an empty threat from Abramovich and, amid Di Matteo's efforts to galvanise the players during his first training session yesterday, he also reiterated the owner's message.

It is understood Di Matteo told the squad that not only was he there until the end of the season, but they were also. Chelsea want to create an atmosphere by which the players have to examine their own accountability for this season's failures.

"It has been a very difficult 24 hours for a lot of people at the football club," said Di Matteo last night on Chelsea TV. "Our duty is to look forward and to try to get the results that we need in the league, the Champions League and in the FA Cup."

The need for a clearout is not a new notion at Chelsea. Villas-Boas understood changes had to be made last summer with Luiz Felipe Scolari, who survived for a similar period of time before being fired in February 2009, saying it will be "hell" for whoever takes over now. "Some things are known, like the relations with the owner, who has the relationship with some players before the coach," Scolari said. "Villas-Boas was a champion and he will continue to be. He needed to replace at least seven or eight players, even since I was there, but he failed."

Abramovich is believed to have put some distance between himself and the players since those days but there is still a perception that he indulges the squad to the detriment of the manager's authority. Villas-Boas had already begun work on overhauling the squad and reducing their average age. Although Cole, Lampard and Malouda have contracts beyond this season, others such as John Obi Mikel, Jose Bosingwa and Paulo Ferreira are also likely to leave. Clearly not all the potential departures will happen and Abramovich does not have a formal list of who is at risk.

Chelsea remain interested in Napoli striker Edinson Cavani and the exciting Brazilian teenage midfielder Lucas Moura, who currently plays for Sao Paulo, and may return for Tottenham's Luka Modric or Porto's Joao Moutinho.Abramovich is determined to carry out the overhaul and will make funds available.

Villas-Boas was ony the second Chelsea manager to be sacked face-to-face by Abramovich, and had the remainder of his contract paid up in full. It is thought he will receive around pounds 8?million in compensation. Inter Milan are considering a move for him although it is believed he could be more likely to return to Porto in the summer.

Villas-Boas did not arrive with an extensive backroom staff although Chelsea confirmed that those he did bring - fitness coach Jose Mario Rochas and chief opposition scout Daniel Sousa - have left the club.

Di Matteo yesterday brought back another former Chelsea player, Eddie Newton, to be his assistant. The pair previously worked together at West Bromwich Albion and MK Dons and, going back to their playing career, they scored the goals that won the club the 1997 FA Cup. Like Di Matteo, Newton's career was also cut short by injury. Chelsea also announced that Chris Jones would step up to the role of first-team fitness coach.

The fallout from Villas-Boas's sacking continued with Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers' Association, declaring that Chelsea were an "embarrassment". "What's for sure is the club, despite unlimited wealth, haven't yet worked out how to build a successful football club," he said. "Looking for what is an eighth manager in nine years is a serious embarrassment to the owner, the club, the fans and the league."