Chelsea on Tuesday confirmed manager Mauricio Pochettino has left the club by mutual consent after a season in charge at Stamford Bridge following a tumultuous 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Pochettino agreed to leave the club by mutual consent following a protracted two-day meeting with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, alongside co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali.
“Chelsea FC can confirm that the Club and Mauricio Pochettino have mutually agreed to part ways,” a club statement said.
“Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley 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.’
“Mauricio Pochettino said: ‘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.’
“Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have left the club with Mauricio.
“The Club will be making no further comment until such time as a new Head Coach is appointed.”
The Argentine is reported to have come to an amicable agreement to his departure just 11 months into a two-year contract, with Chelsea now believed to be lining up a young manager as a replacement.
At the same time, Roberto de Zerbi departed fellow Premier League side Brighton on Sunday after the final game of the season and will be strongly linked to Chelsea.
Emerging manager Kieran Mckenna is also believed to be a candidate after impressively leading Ipswich Town to promotion to the Premier League after back-to-back promotions.
