By Victor Kanayo
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, former Paris Saint-Germain Coach, Mauricio Pochettino, has been pencilled as Chelsea Manager in the coming season, reports from England suggest.
This is coming after weeks of negotiations and permutations by Chelsea hierarchy, though official announcement has come from club gasping for breath throughout the current season.
Coming from ESPN, sources have now revealed that a deal to appoint Pochettino as the permanent coach for Chelsea has been agreed.
Upon confirmation, Pochettino, 51, will take over the managerial role of the club from Frank Lampard at the end of th season.
The Return Of An Argentine Tactician
This means that the Argentina-born tactician will be back to Premier League after he was fired by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019.
Pochettino, who has also managed Southampton, has been out of work since Paris St-Germain replaced him with Christophe Galtier in summer 2022.
The 51-year-old Argentine managed Spurs for five years from 2014 and led them to the 2019 Champions League final.
He guided Spurs to the League Cup final in 2015 and a Premier League runners-up spot in 2016-17, with his side missing out on winning both to Chelsea.
Following his stint at Tottenham, Pochettino took over from Tuchel at PSG in January 2021.
Pochettino Joins Chelsea’s Many Coaches Lineup Amidst Dwindling Fortunes
Pochettino will be Chelsea’s sixth permanent manager in five years, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter earlier this season.
Lampard took interim charge of the Blues at the start of April following Potter’s dismissal.
Chelsea have had a difficult season, losing to Manchester City in the third round of both the FA Cup and League Cup.
They also lost to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, which ended any viable hopes of them qualifying for Europe next season.
They are currently 11th in the Premier League, having won just one of their past 11 games, losing eight of them.
Initial Options
Pochettino was initially linked with a return to his former club Tottenham after they sacked Antonio Conte but sources told ESPN he was never officially approached for the role.
Instead, Chelsea put Pochettino on an initial short list of five-to-seven names and gradually narrowed down the field after conducting a series of talks with various candidates including Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann.
Nagelsmann withdrew from the running after becoming frustrated at the pace of the process, but Chelsea were determined to follow a methodical approach, having sacked Thomas Tuchel and appointed Graham Potter across two days in September, only to sack Potter less than seven months later.
If the trending Pochettino tie with the Blues side is anything to go by, it means he has his hands full in making sure that Chelsea get their groove back.
