Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is set to become the next permanent manager of Chelsea next summer.
According to Fabrizio Romano. Chelsea has chosen Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s new head coach for next season. The Argentine will take up his duties from next season and as such the club is still waiting on the announcement of the news.
The current season will be managed to the end by caretaker manager Frank Lampard. However, Pochettino is said to have already started working on player recruitment and outgoings for next season. Discussions on transfers with the club have also begun. He will also bring his own staff to the club.
Mauricio Pochettino will sign contract in the next days but he will start this new Chelsea chapter in June, now now — as Lampard will remain as caretaker coach. 🚨🔵 #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 13, 2023
Poch will bring in his people for coaching staff — he will discuss transfer strategy with club immediately. pic.twitter.com/6WfbMrUzRb
Chelsea has been looking for a new coach ever since Graham Potter was fired after a dismal start to the season. An extensive search was undertaken by the club’s leadership, which saw the likes of Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmaan giving interviews. In the end, Pochettino was chosen.
Chelsea is currently 11th in the Premier League and will finish the season without a trophy, even after spending £600 million in the past two transfer windows. They will also not compete in any European competitions next season.
Mauricio Pochettino as a manager
However, this isn’t Pochettino’s first rodeo in the Premier League. The 51-year-old was the manager of Chelsea’s London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. He spent five years at the helm from May 2014 to November 2019. As such, many Tottenham fans are quite angry and sad at the decision.
There, he revolutionized the club and led them to consistent top-four finishes. He led them to the League Cup final in 2015, which they lost to Chelsea, and almost won a Premier League in the 2015-16 season which they lost out to Leicester City. They finished second the next season. The Argentine famously took them to the Champions League final in 2019 which they lost out to Liverpool.
He was then sacked in 2019 after a series of bad performances and winning no trophies in five years.
He then took up the managerial position at Paris Saint Germain leading a team consisting of superstars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar Jr. There he won his first trophies in the form of a Ligue 1 title and a French Cup. But he was again sacked and left out of a job since.
Is he the right manager for Chelsea?
While he was sacked by Tottenham, his legacy at the club was bigger than that. He earned his reputation as a great man manager as he was widely loved across the club by his players and staff. His ability to bring out talented young players and incorporate them into the squad is also appreciable.
Chelsea could have chosen other prominent and talented managers. But Chelsea while desperate to win have other problems. Their huge overstacked squad is still full of talented players and young stars. While they could let many of them leave, they still need someone to work on these stars. Other managers will choose to buy new players which Chelsea can’t afford to do right now. But Pochettino will work on this young squad as he has proven before at Tottenham.
He is also known to be a board pleaser and can mold the squad into a good functional squad again. While the pressure is big on Mauricio Pochettino, he could deliver Chelsea out of their current abyss. As someone with previous experience in the league, he is definitely a great choice for the club.
