Chelsea and the representatives of Mauricio Pochettino have agreed terms in principle for the Argentine to become their new head coach, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The Blues – busy with their search for a permanent successor to Graham Potter over the last month – have been busy speaking to various candidates after sacking the previous Brighton Hove & Albion gaffer.
The first candidate co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital spoke to was ex-Barcelona boss Luis Enrique and former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann in connection with the position, although Chelsea subsequently took Enrique out of the equation after an initial round of talks, while Nagelsmann personally opted to withdraw from contention last week as he had apparently been under the impression that the deal was actually his with only a few details to iron out and ultimately withdrew as he did not like the protracted negotiations that followed.
Burnley’s Vincent Kompany, Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim and Napoli’s Luciano Spalletti were all also candidates in the mix, with Pochettino emerging as Chelsea’s new primary candidate with both parties having been locked in negotiations over the last few days.
The understanding now is that an agreement for Pochettino to take charge of Chelsea has been reached in principle and all that’s left now are for the finer matters of the deal to be ironed out, according to 90min.
Details regarding the makeup of his backroom staff are ongoing, with the Argentine looking to bring his entourage of his four assistants – Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez and his sports scientist son Sebastiano Pochettino – to west London.
It was also reported by 90min in February that Pochettino had earlier on rejected an approach from Chelsea due in part to previous gaffer Potter then still occupying the post and at that point was more than a month away from being sacked eventually.
Pochettino – having been out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season – had been interested in a return to former club Tottenham, but the offer from his previous club never materialized, thus opening the door for rivals Chelsea to make their move.