Chelsea are on the lookout for a new manager after Avram Grant was sacked.

A brief statement on Chelsea's website read: "Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September. We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made."

Grant's future has been under debate almost from the moment he inherited the Stamford Bridge reins from Jose Mourinho and his eight-month tenure is now at an end just three days after his side lost to Manchester United in the final of the Champions League.

Despite Chelsea's strong end-of-season surge under Grant, the ultimate lack of silverware - as well as his apparent failure to bring the kind of free-flowing, attacking football desired by owner Roman Abramovich - appears to have been his undoing.

The futures of Chelsea assistants Steve Clarke and Henk Ten Cate are unclear, but no official word has yet been given on their positions.

The likes of Barcelona's Frank Rijkaard, Inter coach Roberto Mancini and Russia's Dutch boss Guus Hiddink have all been linked with the job in recent weeks and any such appointment would be expected to bring their own staff.

Grant's Chelsea career started with his appointment as director of football in the summer of 2007 but he moved into the dugout in the aftermath of Mourinho's controversial departure at the start of the season.

He was not afforded much of a honeymoon period in west London and fans soon made their disappointment at the Portuguese's exit - and some of Grant's tactical decisions - heard.

But he shrugged off the continued speculation and made what had seemed like a United coronation into a hard-fought battle for the league title, while also enjoying victory over Liverpool in the semi-finals of the European Cup.

It was a feat the popular Mourinho failed to achieve in his own time with the Blues and the irony of that statistic was not lost on Grant, who jokingly made his own claims to the title of 'the special one'.

But the laughter soon subsided with a draw against Bolton on the last day of the domestic season, coupled with a United win which handed them the trophy.

Defeat in Moscow - with captain John Terry and Nicolas Anelka, the keynote signing of the Grant era, missing spot-kicks - eventually proved to be his final act as Chelsea manager.