<b>By Manik Bin Mann
Football Reporter

Chelsea have made an offical approach to snatch manager Alex Neil from Norwich after sacking Jose Mourinho today.</b>

We can reveal that Roman Abramovich wants the dour Scotsman to take over at Stamford Bridge and steer the Blues to Premiership safety.

The billionaire Russian has been impressed at how the dour Scotsman kept the Canaries out of the relegation zone all season, until last week.

And he believes that given a little cash, Neil could be a world beater and get Chelsea into mid-table.

<center><div class="getty embed image" style="background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;"><div style="padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/481118516" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">Embed from Getty Images</a></div><div style="overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:58.417508% 0 0 0;width:100%;"><iframe src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/481118516?et=-ImE9yTdR_VOVfm0Ynm33Q&viewMoreLink=off&sig=DBTy13kQ7xA6dOZ25mcQdhU7IgujQgXgoPnh3qVrcNU=" width="594" height="347" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;"></iframe></div><p style="margin:0;"></p></div></center><center>Going down: Alex Neil with Norwich City</center></i><br><br>

Norwich owner Delia Smith is desperate to block Chelsea's approach, determined as she is for <a href="http://www.suffolkgazette.com/sport/norwich-relegation-zone/" target="_blank">Norwich to get relegated so they can win football matches again</a>.

A Chelsea source said: "Our long-suffering fans need cheering up after an awful season under Mourinho.

"We thought we'd give them all a good laugh by trying to poach Alex Neil from Norwich. In doing so, we should be able to keep Norwich below us in the table, therefore ensuring we do not go down ourselves."

Neil is one of several names on Chelsea's list, which includes Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone. Mourinho was sacked earlier today after a board meeting discussed the Premiership champions' recent run of abysmal results.

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