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Chelsea agree terms in principle with Mauricio Pochettino.
According to reports, Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino’s agents have reached an agreement in principle for the Argentine to serve as their next head coach.
The Blues have been interviewing potential candidates as they look for Graham Potter’s long-term replacement for the last month.
Former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique and former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann were the first managers Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital met with about the role.
After an early round of negotiations, Chelsea distanced themselves from Enrique, and Nagelsmann withdrew from consideration last week.
While Luciano Spalletti of Napoli, Ruben Amorim of Sporting CP, and Vincent Kompany of Burnley were all praised, Pochettino emerged as Chelsea’s new top choice, and the two sides have been engaged in discussions over the past several days.
According to reports, a contract has been made in principle for Pochettino to lead Chelsea, and the specifics of the arrangement are now being worked out.
The Argentine is attempting to relocate his four regular coaches to west London: assistants Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez, and his sports scientist son Sebastiano Pochettino. These negotiations are still in progress.
According to a February story, Pochettino rejected a Chelsea offer in part because Potter was still in charge and was still more than a month away from losing his job.
Pochettino has been jobless since parting ways with Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the previous campaign. Although he had shown interest in rejoining old team Tottenham, the north London club never made an approach, which allowed rivals Chelsea to pounce.