The 51 year old is supposedly close to agreeing to join Todd Boehly's new project at Chelsea, following 10 months out of management. Chelsea have extensively searched for a new head coach to succeed Graham Potter in the summer, and have been linked with Julian Naglesmann, Luis Enrique and Antonio Conte. Pochettino has become the frontrunner with negotiations advancing in recent days, after former Bayern Munich manager Naglesmann pulled out and talks with Luis Enrique stalled. The Argentine was sacked by Paris Saint Germain just before the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season, after a failure to win the league and struggles in the Champions League.
Pochettino had been tentatively linked with reuniting with Tottenham Hotspur who have been on a downward spiral since he departed in July 2019. The former Southampton manager has arguably been the most successful Spurs manager in the Premier League era, taking them to the Champions League final and finishing a record 2nd place in 2015-16 in the league.
If he does join arch rivals Chelsea, it is alleged he has insisted a focus on homegrown talent which will not be difficult at Stamford Bridge given their array of young prospects like Carney Chukwuemeka, Levi Colwill, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson. He has a track record of supporting youth and enabling breakthrough talents to flourish while at Spurs, such as Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Kyle Walker-Peters.
Five Positives for Pochettino:
1. Youth:
Todd Boehly went out and signed Europe's brightest teenage prospects this summer, envisaging creating long-term success in West London. However, this season under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter both managers struggled to focus on this young project as a result of squad experimentation and on field pressures. If Mauricio Pochettino joins his priority will be to nurture the academy and produce future stars, which will tap into Boehly's philosophy and create a sustainable long-term solution for income.
2. Pressure:
The idea of Graham Potter was promising, given his rise up the EFL and attacking system but his weakness was a lack of experience and inability to cope with pressure at an elite club. He was oblivious to this level of scrutiny and intensity which comes with the very top, whereas Pochettino is well accustomed to working under strangulating media and hierarchal demands. At Paris Saint Germain he was tasked with winning the Champions League and satisfying Mbappe, Messi and Neymar, while at Spurs he suffered the wrath of supporters and took Spurs to their first final for six years. If he joined Chelsea, he has experience of being forced to be ruthless in selection and being locked in a title race.
3. Experience:
Julian Naglesmann and Luis Enrique had no Premier League experience, and both would be joining the chaotic situation at Chelsea, needing time to adapt to England. Chelsea, cannot afford to slip next season and will hope this season is a shocking blip, therefore they need a new manager who can come in and knows how to tackle the Premier League. Pochettino has worked his way up the table starting at newly promoted Southampton and the joining Tottenham where he breached the top four. Joining a club with the stature and finances of Chelsea seems a sensible next step in his managerial career.
4. Conservative:
Chelsea desperately need stability and continuity, after imploding this season where they have fell down to 11th place. Pochettino is a calm and collected figure on the touchline, who has always taken responsibility for his players and appeared a very level headed and intelligent coach. At Tottenham, he worked wonders on a tight budget and this was superseded on his team spirit. He is the best man to galvanise this disjointed Chelsea squad and reconcile with contract rebel Mason Mount.
5. Undemanding:
If Chelsea had appointed Zinedine Zidane or Luis Enrique, their would have been a demand for financial injection in the summer transfer window to take Chelsea back to title contenders. Todd Boehly has splashed an eye-watering £600m in two transfer windows and Chelsea are under increased scrutiny for breaching financial fair play. The only way to ease pressures, is a mass exodus of sales in the summer but even still they can't afford to continue to keep spending this amount of money. Pochettino, would not want to instil his own imprint onto this Chelsea squad instead he will utilise the current squad which is brimming with talent and focus on the youth. This could be very encouraging for players like Mykhalo Mudyruk who seems lost at the moment and needs a manager to come in and develop him.
There is doubt that Pochettino, is not a serial winner like Jose Mouhrino, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte of the past. He lost two finals at Tottenham Hotspur as well as a Champions League final and he failed to win Ligue 1. Neverthless, he appears a smart potential appointment that matches Boehly's vision, and while he may not immediately bring the title he will certainly develop this Chelsea side and give them a direction.
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