Chelsea agree deal to appoint ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino as new manager

Ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will join the club in the summer, with Frank Lampard remaining as interim manager until the end of the season.

The 51-year-old lost his job at Paris Saint-Germain last summer despite leading the team to Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France victories in his brief tenure. Pochettino was fired in July 2022 due to losing to Real Madrid in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.

Ten months later, Pochettino is eventually anticipated to take over as Chelsea’s new manager and succeed Frank Lampard. The Blues will look to Pochettino to turn around their fortunes as they are on track for their worst Premier League finish since 1994.

Pochettino could have returned to management sooner, the BBC claims. Benfica, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Villarreal, and Nice have all approached the Argentine throughout Europe.

Premier League teams also showed interest in Pochettino around this time. Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds wanted to hire Pochettino as their new manager. However, Forest ultimately decided to keep promotion-winning manager Steve Cooper.

After Steven Gerrard was fired, Villa looked for a new manager but decided to go with former Arsenal head coach Unai Emery. Villa went from being just outside the relegation zone to being on the verge of qualifying for Europe due to that choice, and it has paid off handsomely.

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However, since parting ways with Jesse Marsch, Leeds has enjoyed much lesser success. Sam Allardyce has the difficult job of keeping the Whites in the Premier League after Javi Gracia was ousted after winning just three of his 12 games in command.

As for Pochettino, he was holding out for the excellent chance and turned down those eight teams to take over as Chelsea’s manager after the current campaign. Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino, Toni Jimenez, and son Sebastiano will join him in West London as members of his backroom staff.

Despite investing about £600 million over the previous year, Chelsea are 11th and have had a difficult season under four managers. However, the former PSG manager is said to have already pinpointed the areas of the Chelsea club that he would like to upgrade.

Pochettino is eager to revamp the team’s spine. He has a new goalkeeper, center midfielder, and center striker on his transfer wish list.