It’s perhaps taken a little longer than expected, but Chelsea are finally ready to unveil Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager.
The west Londoners have toiled through much of this season, mainly under the stewardship of Graham Potter and the current, disastrous and short reign of former midfielder, Frank Lampard.
It’s lucky for Todd Boehly that Thomas Tuchel had managed to get some points on the board before he was dismissed or else the Blues could even be looking at a relegation fight.
In any event, Pochettino’s hire, reported by The Telegraph (subscription required) and other outlets, brings to an end a search that has seen a number of names linked with the position.
An official announcement is expected to be made at some point next week once contracts have been signed, with Pochettino’s assistant manager and head of conditioning Jesus Perez, first-team coach Miguel D’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez and son Sebastiano, a sports scientist, also expected to pitch up at Stamford Bridge.
Fortunately for the Argentinian, things can’t really get much worse at the club, but he will have to work hard and fast in the transfer market to sell those players that are surplus to requirements whilst bringing in some high quality replacements.
With Chelsea clearly needing a proper centre-forward for most of this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Pochettino go after his former captain at Tottenham, Harry Kane, though Daniel Levy is highly unlikely to sanction such a deal.
Regardless, it will certainly be interesting to see how the Blues line up in their first match of 2023/24.
About time