“Mauricio Pochettino Signs Contract with Chelsea: A New Era Begins for the Troubled Club”

Mauricio Pochettio returns to English football, where he had successful steps for Southamptonfirstly, and Tottenham Hotspurafter. Now he will manage Chelsea, club with which he agreed his contract in the last hours. The London team in which the Argentine plays Enzo Fernandez The arrival of the Argentine coach has not yet been made official, 51 years, but according to the British press it will do so in the next few hours. It is the third DT since the Russian Roman Abramovich got rid of the majority shareholding of the club, sold to the American magnate Todd Boehly; the first two coaches were German Thomas Tuchel and English Graham Potter, for whom Chelsea paid a €24 million buyout to Brighton.

In recent days, the English sports press has speculated that Pochettino would be chosen. In the talks, the native of Murphy from Santa Fe convinced the managers of the Blues. The other candidates were Spanish Luis Enriqueex DT of the selection of his country, and the German Julian Nagelsman, dismissed in March by Bayern München. Pochettino maintains his prestige in the Premier League, in which he rounded off good seasons at Southampton and Tottenham. In this last cclub, Chelsea’s classic rival, he became runner-up in the Champions League, in 2018/2019.

There were Tottenham fans who even demanded from the owner of their club the return of the Argentine coach, a former footballer for Newell’s, Espanyol and Barcelona, ​​among other teams. However, Daniel Levy He first thought of Nagelsmann and now the top candidate is Ryan Mason, today interim. Chelsea, on the other hand, never had any doubts: his first option was the man from Santa Fe.

The question now is when he will take the reins of the blue team, plunged into a crisis of results and, above all, of football identity. The campus is run by Frank Lampard, idol as a footballer but faded as DT. He was signed to lead Chelsea at the end of the season, as a storm pilot. If he managed to classify it for the Champions League, much better. But the team is eleventh in the Premier, in the second half of the table. And what is it about club that invested the most money in the last two transfer markets, worldwide.

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As soon as he found out that Pochettino was the favorite to take charge of the squad, Lampard offered to collaborate in everything in his power to make the transition as painless as possible.. Chelsea has not had peace since Tuchel’s departure last September, after an erratic start in the Champions League. With the German fired, the target was Potter. But he failed to manage the talent available, as he had done in Brighton. He was also fired. There was a first interim Bruno Saltor, a former Spanish defender who had been Potter’s assistant. Then Lampard took over. And now Pochettino arrives.

Chelsea’s instability causes some players on the squad to recalculate their future even though they have a contract with the London club for 2023/2024. One of them is Brazilian Thiago Silva, one of the most regular players in the group in a fateful season. Although his contract will expire in mid-2024, the call from Fluminense, his lifelong club and in which his good friend Marcelo plays, can make him change his destination. The current storm in London does not contribute to Silva, one of the dressing room references, choosing to stay.

There are other footballers on the squad who will pack their bags forced by the situation: Pochettino will not take them into account. For this reason, the Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang He would emigrate to Barcelona, ​​where he has already been, to be Robert Lewandowski’s substitute. The new DT will have to look for a guaranteed 9 and there are those who think that his new center forward will be Harry Kane, whom he knows perfectly from his time at Tottenham. The problem, no less, is that the Spurs would not release him to play for their classic opponent.

Another position to be resolved is that of goalkeeper, which is being disputed today by the Spanish Kepa Arrizabalaga (holder) and Senegalese Edóuard Mendy, and whose mistakes cost the London team points. The top candidate to keep the goal is the Cameroonian André Onana, today at Inter, from Italy. However, the CEO of the Milanese club has already clarified that the African “is not for sale.” That is why in the last hours the name of an Argentine emerged, Emiliano “Drawing” Martinezfrom a great season at Aston Villa and world champion in Qatar 2022.

Other footballers who can leave Chelsea in search of minutes are the Spanish wing defender Marc Cucurella; Englishmen Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Connor Gallagher; the croatian matthew kovacic; the moroccan Judge Ziyechand the American Christian Pulisic. Furthermore, the Belgian Romelu Lukaku He is on loan at Inter and must return to London. The technical director likes to have an offensive reference and the giant can play that role again. He will be defined in the European summer.

For now, Pochettino will land on the blue sidewalk of London with his usual assistants: Jesus Perez y Miguel D’Agostino. The rest of his coaching staff will be made up of Toni Jimenezgoalkeeping coach, and Sebastian Pochettinoson of the DT and sports physiologist.