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Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea by mutual consent
By mutual consent, Mauricio Pochettino has departed Chelsea.
Pochettino met with co-owner Behdad Eghbali, sports directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, and other team members on Monday to discuss the Argentine’s situation before reaching an agreement to split on Tuesday.
“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history,” Pochettino said in a statement. “The Club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”
Stewart and Winstanley added: “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season. He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea will now immediately start their search for a replacement and are expected to target a “young, progressive coach“.
Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, Girona’s Michel, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna and Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca are all named as possible targets for the Blues, who are now looking for their fourth permanent manager since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital arrived at the club.
After taking Chelsea to sixth place in the Premier League and securing the team’s return to Europe, Pochettino departs from Chelsea, winning over many of the team’s detractors with the team’s strong finish to the season.
A review of Pochettino’s role this summer was decided upon last summer, as per report in February. As part of the process, the manager will also have the opportunity to provide input on the club’s board-level operations.
There is a strong emphasis on the lack of “bad blood” between Pochettino and Chelsea’s officials, and it is not thought that any conflicts over player sales this summer had anything to do with the decision to split.
Rather, Pochettino is thought to have expressed reservations about operating inside a club framework, and both sides ultimately decided that a split was appropriate.
In advance of a big summer transfer season that may see several exits and a few high-profile signings, Chelsea will now begin their search for a new manager. We anticipate the arrival of a left back, a center back, and a striker.