Pochettino Leaves Chelsea After One Season in Charge

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has left the club by mutual consent after one season at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino, 52, took charge of Chelsea on 1 July, signing a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.

The Argentine was under pressure after an underwhelming first half of the season but a run of five successive wins to end the season ensured they finished sixth in the Premier League.

Chelsea were also runners-up in the Carabao Cup and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

"Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity," Pochettino said. "The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."

Pochettino was Chelsea's sixth permanent manager in five years, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, which led to Frank Lampard taking charge temporarily at the end of the 2022-23 season.

"On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season," sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said. "He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the best in his future coaching career."

Coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left.

Pochettino, whose tenure ended just short of 12 months, is understood to have departed on very amicable terms; he felt leaving was the right decision following discussions with senior club officials.

He had been seen as the man to mould Chelsea into credible title contenders again after their £747m expenditure on transfers during the 2022-23 campaign.

The Argentine also enjoyed a significant budget, with a further £400m-plus spent on players, including Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and Christopher Nkunku.

Chelsea have spent more than £1bn on transfers since Todd Boehly's takeover in May 2022 and was described by Sky Sports pundit and former England defender Gary Neville as "billion-pound bottle-jobs" after losing the Carabao Cup final against a weakened Liverpool side.

He appeared to win back some support following a 6-0 thrashing of Everton in April and a 5-0 victory against West Ham in May, although Chelsea did fall to a 5-0 loss at Arsenal in between those two results.

Pochettino struggled to win over supporters, with positive comments about his former club Tottenham, his calm demeanour and mixed results all contributing to an indifferent atmosphere among fans, with many disliking the Argentine.

Pochettino’s departure from Chelsea will surprise many but the situation had been on a knife edge.

Even though they had finished the Premier League season with a five-game winning run, there was huge uncertainty behind the scenes.

Chairman Boehly had called for patience and met the Argentine on Friday before the final game of the season.

But less was known about the opinions of other senior board members, including most notably, co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali.

In reality, Eghbali is the key decision-maker at Stamford Bridge and will have been a crucial voice in the end-of-season meeting.

He has been in London with fellow Clearlake Capital co-founder and board member Jose Feliciano since Chelsea won the Women’s Super League on Saturday.

They, along with the two sporting directors Winstanley and Stewart, will have been the loudest voices in the room despite support from the squad and senior staff for Pochettino.

Of course, this is an ending by mutual consent, and signs of discontent from Pochettino were apparent at press conferences.

Pochettino aired concerns about injuries and the composition of his young, inexperienced squad, which exposed the decision-makers to criticism.

Privately, he is understood to have been open to continuing depending on the outcome of the post-season meeting, but also to have aired concerns in the final weeks of his tenure.

Several Chelsea players took to social media after the announcement on Tuesday night.

Cole Palmer, Chelsea's top scorer this season, said: "Gaffer, thank you for everything you have done for me and making my dreams come true. All the best."

Team-mate Marc Cucurella said: "Thank you for everything, mister. Good luck in the future."

Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke were among others who posted thanks to Pochettino on Instagram.

Chelsea already have four-man shortlist to replace Mauricio Pochettino

Enzo Maresca

Pep Guardiola's former protege has done wonders in one season with Leicester City, guiding the Foxes back to the Premier League by becoming champions in the Championship.

Chelsea's owners saw first-hand what Maresca is capable of during an FA Cup clash this season - a game in which arguably Leicester deserved more than their 4-2 defeat on the day.

Kieran McKenna

Another manager from the Championship who has caught the eye of not just Chelsea but several other clubs looking for a new manager - namely Brighton.

McKenna has taken Ipswich Town from League One to the Premier League in two seasons and is highly regarded in the game following academy roles at Tottenham and Manchester United, where he also worked as a first-team coach.

Another, like Maresca, who has just made it to the top flight; would he leave one job for another?

Sebastian Hoeness

What a job he has done in the Bundesliga! Hoeness guided Stuttgart to the runners-up spot in the German top flight with Bayern Munich dropping into third on the season's final day.

Stuttgart had the second-best defensive record in the Bundesliga, only behind Bayer Leverkusen, who, let's face it, had a pretty remarkable season. With Stuttgart in the Champions League, would he leave right now for a team in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League?

Thomas Frank

Frank has earned plaudits regularly since taking charge of Brentford. The Bees have not had as strong a season as they would have hoped for in 2023/24, finishing 16th following their ninth-place finish in 2022/23, but his stock continues to be high.

Frank and Brentford have always been data-led, which is sure to impress Boehly and Clearlake and he could be ready to make the next step in his managerial career.