Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one season in charge

Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consent after just one season in charge.

Pochettino led his youthful squad to the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup semi-finals, and despite a season largely of struggles, ended the Premier League campaign with five successive wins and secured European football with a sixth-place finish. Chelsea had finished the previous campaign 12th.

A statement released on Tuesday read: “Chelsea FC can confirm that the club and Mauricio Pochettino have mutually agreed to part ways.”

Assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also departed.

Pochettino said: “Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history. The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

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The 52-year-old Argentinian, who had only been in the job for 11 months, was appointed last May after a lengthy recruitment process, replacing interim manager Frank Lampard, who arrived following Graham Potter’s sacking in April 2023.

Chelsea spent more than £400m on new signings – many of them under the age of 25 – during the summer but also sold nearly £250m worth of players, with senior members of the dressing room such as Cesar Azpilicueta, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic all leaving.

After a final day win against Bournemouth on Sunday, Pochettino said he did not know whether Chelsea would be conducting a reported end-of-season review to decide his future, but following talks on Monday, a decision was taken that he would step down.

The club’s sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: “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.”

The 51-year-old arrived after a year out of work. He previously won Ligue 1 during an 18-month spell with Paris Saint-Germain and spent more than five years in charge of Tottenham, reaching the 2019 Champions League final.

Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, Leicester’s Enzo Maresca, Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness and Girona boss Michel are reportedly on the Blues’ list of possible replacements.

Pochettino is due to manage the World XI at Soccer Aid for the second year running in early June, with the charity match taking place at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home.

‘History repeating itself as Pochettino departs’

Sky Sports’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:

“We all know Mauricio Pochettino had quite a difficult season at Stamford Bridge, but it appeared as though things had changed. Results had got better, the fans felt a connection with him, and the team.

“But the season ended and Mauricio had a meeting with the two sporting directors at Chelsea, and they decided after talks to sleep on it. But ultimately both sides felt that going forward they couldn’t make it work, they were on different paths.

“Pochettino revealed he had dinner with Todd Boehly recently and that had gone well, but behind the scenes there has been some doubt. Chelsea are such a big club, politically there is a lot going on.

“Chelsea believe they are a Champions League club. For a variety of reasons, they’ve not met that target. There are no hard feelings between the owners and Mauricio Pochettino, the players like him, and fans like him too.

“It’s a job that takes time. Chelsea managers don’t get a lot of time and it seems like history is repeating itself under the new ownership.”

Poch’s final interview: ‘My future will be decided by the owners’

Why has Poch left now and who is next in line?

Sky Sports’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:

“Pochettino had one year left on his deal and terms of his contract will be honoured.

“One issue was that Chelsea are in the Club World Cup next June (2025) and that is when his contract ends.

“So, Chelsea and Pochettino both had to decide whether to agree a new deal now or go their separate ways.

“Chelsea couldn’t go into next season with a manager whose contract was going to run out during the Club World Cup.

“Chelsea’s leadership group respect the job Pochettino has done and relations were left amicably – they have not been going behind Pochettino’s back and speaking to other managers.

“The likes of Thomas Tuchel, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte are not being considered.

“They want a dynamic coach to work within a structure that is settled and bedded in.”