Chelsea's search for a new manager took an unexpected twist yesterday when the club made an informal inquiry to discover if Jürgen Klinsmann could be extricated from his contract with Bayern Munich. The former Germany coach, who led his country to the 2006 World Cup semi-finals in his first managerial job, agreed a two-year deal with Bayern in January and his representatives told Chelsea that he would definitely start work as planned in Munich on July 1.

Given his commitment to Bayern, Klinsmann was always likely to be a non-starter for Chelsea, but the club's willingness to ask the question demonstrates that no one is off limits as they seek a replacement for Avram Grant. Klinsmann, 43, rejected the chance to replace José Mourinho at Stamford Bridge last season, meeting Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, Eugene Tenenbaum, Roman Abramovich's right-hand man, and Grant for talks in California last April. They came to nothing because of his reluctance to work under the Israeli, who was director of football at the time.

Klinsmann's brave new world of fitness coaches, psychologists and alternative medicine clearly made a big impression, however, with Kenyon instructing Chelsea executives to find out if he could be induced to break his commitment to Bayern, only to be told that it would be impossible. Chelsea insist that the German was not necessarily their first choice for the job, just one of a number of candidates.

The move for Klinsmann appears to indicate a preference for a young, up-and-coming manager with considerable pedigree as a player, such as Mark Hughes, Frank Rijkaard and Didier Deschamps, although Chelsea sources insist that they will also consider more experienced figures such as Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Marcello Lippi. Their willingness to sanction an approach for a man about to start working for a European rival could be interpreted as a sign of desperation and a lack of clear planning, but Chelsea claim it is simply a result of their rigorous and open-minded attitude towards a difficult problem.

With the managerial hunt likely to continue for some time, other important issues at Chelsea could become clearer today when Kenyon begins a series of meetings with Grant's coaching and backroom staff. Henk ten Cate, the assistant first-team coach, will be the first to meet Kenyon this morning and is expected to be dismissed, though he could be retained in the interim until a new manager is appointed.

Ten Cate claimed yesterday that he hoped to stay on, though the Dutchman is believed to have made many enemies at the club because of his perceived abrasive attitude, not least among the players. “For me it's simple,” Ten Cate said. “I have a contract until 2010 and I feel fine in my role as first assistant. It's up to the club if they find that I did a good job during the past eight months. There are three options - a new coach arrives and he will appoint his own technical staff, or Steve Clarke and I take over, or a new coach comes and wants me as his assistant.

“Half an hour before Chelsea officially announced the Grant news, I was called by Kenyon. He told me the news and he also said that the sacking of Grant would have no consequences for me. These talks were already planned for months, so it has nothing to do with the recent developments. In January I had such an evaluation conversation and then we agreed that we would do it again after the season.”

Clarke is also due to meet Kenyon, but not until later in the week as he is away on a fishing holiday. With Grant out of the way, Clarke would like to stay at the club temporarily to see if he has any future under the new manager, but would not hesitate to leave if he was offered a manager's job, even in the Coca-Cola Championship.