Chelsea “closing in” on Mauricio Pochettino appointment.
Chelsea are “closing in” on the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager, according to a report in The Guardian.
Jacob Steinberg writes that the former Tottenham Hotspur manager has held positive talks with Chelsea’s owners, and while the deal is not done, there is “growing confidence” that the parties will reach an agreement.
Mauricio Pochettino in line to take over at Chelsea.
Chelsea have been on the lookout for a new permanent manager since they sacked Graham Potter on April 2nd, after a torrid seven-month spell in charge for the ex-Brighton boss.
Club legend and former manager Frank Lampard has since taken over on a caretaker basis, but has seen his side lose all four of his games in charge.
Should Pochettino become Chelsea manager, it would be seen as a blow for Spurs fans, some of whom wished to see their former hero return to the dugout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Successful time at Spurs.
The Argentine managed the club from 2014 until 2019, and oversaw a significant improvement of the club’s on-pitch fortunes during that time.
A fifth-place Premier League finish in his first season was followed by a genuine title challenge in 2015/16, only for Spurs to eventually finish third behind champions Leicester City and Arsenal.
They would go on to finish second the following year, before the pinnacle of Pochettino’s time in charge came in 2019, when he led Spurs to the Champions League final in Madrid, which they would lose 2-0 to Liverpool.
Pochettino was sacked in November of that year, before he took charge of Paris Saint-Germain for 18 months from January 2021.
There, he would win to a Coupe de France and a Ligue 1 title, but failed to guide the the Qatar-owned club to their holy grail of a Champions League trophy.
London rivals.
Pochettino’s talks with another club will be made worse for Spurs fans by the fact that Chelsea are their big London rivals.
Meanwhile, the North London club are said to be in discussions over the future of acting head coach Cristian Stellini, on the back of a 6-1 mauling at the hands of Newcastle United on Sunday.