Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear to Chelsea that he wants to bring Filippo Galli, one of his two assistants at AC Milan, with him if he agrees to take over at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are reluctant to employ a raft of foreign coaches because they want to promote continuity among their backroom staff, but are likely to agree to the recruitment of Galli as an acceptable compromise.

Ancelotti has yet to give Chelsea a final commitment that he will join them in the summer, but the club are increasingly confident that they will get the man Roman Abramovich, the owner, has been pursuing since he sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari in February. The Russian expressed a preference for Ancelotti when the club were seeking a replacement for Avram Grant last summer and will not allow himself to be overruled again.

The Milan coach’s insistence on bringing Galli is unlikely to be a deal-breaker because his appointment would make sense. Unlike Ancelotti, the former Milan defender speaks excellent English and has experience of English football, spending a season under Gianluca Vialli at Watford towards the end of his playing career.

Ancelotti has also shown himself willing to compromise and has accepted that Mauro Tassotti, his other assistant, and Villiam Vecchi, Milan’s goalkeeping coach, will not follow him to London. Tassotti may have been reluctant to leave in any case, because he has been at the club for the best part of 30 years as a player and a coach and has even been touted as a possible successor to Ancelotti. The 49-year-old will stay on to work under a new coach at the very least, while Vecchi is also likely to stay at the club.

Ancelotti has also expressed willingness to work with Chelsea’s existing coaches, particularly Ray Wilkins, Guus Hiddink’s assistant, and Christophe Lollichon, the goalkeeping coach, but Paul Clement will have to return to his old job with the reserve side.