Journalist Rodrigo Mattos has revealed that Filipe Luís held talks with Chelsea’s holding company while negotiating a contract extension with Flamengo.
Flamengo unexpectedly announced the departure of manager Filipe Luís this week. Although Flamengo have had a poor start to the 2026 season, with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat placing them 11th in the Brasileirão standings, the sudden sacking came as a surprise —
especially since Filipe Luís had only renewed his contract with Flamengo in late December last year.
Rodrigo Mattos stated that Filipe Luís was in contact with Chelsea’s holding company during his renewal negotiations with Flamengo, which could have offered him a role within the same football group as Chelsea. The matter was discovered two weeks ago, when Filipe Luís went around three days without communicating with Flamengo. This caused a rift between Flamengo’s board and Filipe Luís, and cost president Luis Eduardo Baptista his trust in the manager.
However, Filipe Luís later found out that Chelsea’s holding company had not approached him to manage Chelsea, but only to coach Strasbourg, which belongs to the same football group.After learning this, Filipe Luís returned to the negotiating table to extend his contract with Flamengo.
Filipe Luís believed it was normal to approach other clubs during contract renewal talks, but Flamengo president Luis Eduardo Baptista felt betrayed and lost patience with him, leading to the decision to sack him immediately after the poor start to the season.
Flamengo thrashed Madureira 8–0 in the Campeonato Carioca fixture this Tuesday. But Rodrigo Mattos said that before that match, Flamengo’s board had already considered dismissing Filipe Luís and inviting former Cruzeiro manager Jardim to replace him.
