Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea with immediate effect as decision for exit explained

Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea with immediate effect as decision for exit explained

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Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 21/05/2024

- 19:08

Updated: 21/05/2024

- 20:18

The former Tottenham and PSG boss has left his role at Stamford Bridge

Mauricio Pochettino has left his role as Chelsea head coach by mutual consent, the club have confirmed.

The Blues have decided to part ways with the Argentine following an end-of-season review at Stamford Bridge.


Pochettino only began his role at Chelsea last July and led the team to a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League in his first campaign in charge.

He reached the Carabao Cup final, losing to a depleted Liverpool team, as well as suffering more Wembley anguish in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.

Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea

Getty

Chelsea finished the campaign in style, winning their last five matches to secure a spot in Europe next term.

However, it was not enough for the club's hierarchy and a mutual decision has been reached over Pochettino's exit.

Pochettino released a short statement on the Chelsea website when his departure was announced.

It read: "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history.

"The Club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."

Meanwhile, sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley thanked Pochettino for his efforts.

They said: "On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season.

"He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career."


The Telegraph claims that Pochettino agreed to leave on Tuesday morning.

He had met with Winstanley and Stewart, as well as co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali in recent days.

Pochettino had dinner with Todd Boehly last Friday before meeting the three other high-profile figures this week.

Pochettino has left with immediate effect, less than a year into a two-year contract.

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Mauricio Pochettino was in charge of Chelsea for less than 12 months

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Pochettino's deal had an option to extend by a further 12 months but the west Londoners are again searching for a new permanent appointment.

He was Chelsea's sixth permanent boss in five years when he agreed to take over towards the end of the 2022/23 season.

Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were both sacked during that campaign before Frank Lampard took over on a temporary basis.

Mauricio Pochettino and Moises Caicedo

Mauricio Pochettino spent big in the transfer market but didn't meet Chelsea chiefs' demands

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Chelsea spent huge money in Pochettino's first window in charge, taking their transfer outlay to over £1billion since the club was bought in May 2022.

However, his squad was plagued by injuries, with big-money signings such as Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia spending much of the season on the sidelines and club captain Reece James featuring in just 10 top-flight matches.

Chelsea lost just one of their last 14 Premier League fixtures but Pochettino has paid for a slow start to the season.

Assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d'Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left their roles at Chelsea.

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