Chelsea confirmed on Monday the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino as new coach for the next two seasons, with the option of one more. There he will meet his compatriot Enzo Fernández, the player he will try to turn into the axis of the resurrection of the fallen Blues, who next season will only have the domestic competitions of England as a challenge.
Pochettino, who managed Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, will succeed Frank Lampard, interim manager until the end of the season, and Graham Potter, the last permanent manager, who was sacked in March for poor results.
The Argentine, who has not worked since leaving Paris Saint Germain in 2022, finds himself with a Chelsea in the process of rebuilding, without options to play European competition next season, after a blank season, and with more than 600 million spent in the last two transfer markets.
One of the great uncertainties regarding the whole of Stamford Bridge will be what reinforcements can be made this summer, to stay within the limits of financial fair play, after the disbursement of 330 million from the last winter market, with the arrival of Enzo Fernández, and the 300 million last summer.
Pochettino has extensive experience already in the Premier League, where he managed a virtually newly promoted Southampton and led them to eighth place and the Europa League.
After a year and a half with the Saints, Pochettino left for Tottenham and led Spurs to fight for the Premier League title, with a runner-up, and the unforgettable 2018-2019 season, in which Tottenham played its first Champions League final, which it lost to Liverpool 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The Argentine left Tottenham months after that final, after a bad start to the season, and was hired in January 2021 by PSG, replacing Thomas Tuchel. However, after a year and a half with the Parisians and a Ligue 1 title, a French Cup title and a Champions League semi-final in 2021, lost to Manchester City, Pochettino left PSG and took a long break until now.
After being linked with a possible return to Tottenham, which has no permanent coach after the dismissal of Antonio Conte, Pochettino returns to London, but west of the city, where he will try to return glory to a Chelsea that is adrift since the new owner, billionaire Todd Boehly, substitute for Roman Abramovich, decided to sack Tuchel earlier this season.
The departure of the German, architect of the second Champions League of the club in 2021, was not solved by the signing of Potter, who was taken out of Brighton & Hove Albion paying the termination clause of 21 million pounds (24 million euros) and with a contract of several years.
His terrible position in the Premier, with the Champions League at a long distance, plus the eliminations in the two domestic cups, both at the hands of Manchester City, triggered his dismissal and the hiring until the end of the campaign of Frank Lampard, who far from correcting the course of the English chained six defeats in a row in his first six games and finished with the team in twelfth position in the table.
Source: EFE
