A successful final sprint and a European qualification snatched at the last minute will not have been enough. After a short year at the head of Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino and the management of the Blues ended his mandate “by mutual agreement”. “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mauricio for the past season,” greets the club in a laconic press release. “He will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge and we wish him all the best for the rest of his coaching career.”
Appointed coach of the Blues last summer, a year after the end of his mandate at the head of Paris Saint-Germain, the Argentine technician finds himself once again without a club at the end of his third adventure in the Premier League (Southampton, Tottenham and therefore Chelsea). “Thank you to the management of Chelsea for giving me the opportunity to be part of the history of this club,” the person concerned reacted soberly. The club is now in a position to move forward in the Premier League and Europe for years to come.
Wrested at the cost of a thunderous final sprint, the 6th qualifying place for a European competition will therefore remain Pochettino’s last mark in west London, where he notably participated in the blossoming of the nugget Cole Palmer and developed a large number young players. No information has yet filtered out on the identity of a possible successor, who would be the fifth coach of the Blues in two years after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and therefore Mauricio Pochettino.