Mauricio Pochettino left Chelsea by mutual consent after just one season in charge of the Londoners.
The Argentine led the young Blues side to the final of the League Cup, where they lost to Liverpool after extra time, and to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Despite a difficult season of ebbs and flows, Chelsea finished the Premier League campaign with five consecutive victories, which guaranteed the team the sixth position in the final standings and a place in Europe. The previous season, the Londoners were only 12th.
"Chelsea confirms that the club and Mauricio Pochettino have mutually agreed to part ways", the club said in a statement, with the Argentine himself adding the following: "I thank the owners and the sporting and technical management for the opportunity to be part of the history of this football club. The club is now well-positioned to continue its upward trajectory in the Premier League and Europe in the coming years", said Pochettino, with his assistants Jesus Perez, Miguel D'Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino also departing from Stamford Bridge.
The 52-year-old, who has been in charge for just 11 months, took charge of Chelsea in May 2023, replacing interim manager Frank Lampard, who arrived after Graham Potter was sacked in April last year. Chelsea spent over £400m on transfers, many of them on players under the age of 25, in the summer, but also sold a total of £250m - the more experienced in the dressing room such as Cesar Azpilicueta, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic were among those who left.
Pochettino won France's Ligue 1 during his 18 months in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and spent more than five years as Tottenham manager, taking Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final.
Kieran McKenna (Ipswich), Enzo Maresca (Leicester), Sebastian Hoeness (Stuttgart) and Michel (Girona) are among the potential options for a new Chelsea manager. The list also includes current Brentford boss Thomas Frank. Pochettino, for his part, could take over at Manchester United if the Red Devils decide to part ways with Erik ten Hag. /BGNES
