Exclusive: Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consent after meeting with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali over the course of two days.

Telegraph Sport can reveal that Pochettino agreed to his departure with Chelsea late on Tuesday morning, following the club’s end-of-season review that started on Monday.

There is not thought to be any bad blood between Pochettino and Chelsea, who will immediately start their search for a replacement with a young and progressive coach to be targeted.

Among the names likely to be considered will be Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, Girona’s Michel, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, who has been lined up by Brighton, and Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca.

Brentford’s Thomas Frank is another manager Chelsea will have on their list of candidates, but Vincent Kompany, the Burnley manager who made the three-man shortlist before Pochettino’s appointment, is not thought to be of interest at this time.

Pochettino had met co-controlling owner Todd Boehly for dinner last Friday night, before, on Monday and Tuesday, spending several hours with Winstanley and Stewart, and meeting with Eghbali.

It means Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one year of the two-year contract he signed last summer and is in line to pocket a significant compensation fee.

The departure of Pochettino, which has been described as being ‘amicable’, makes him the third permanent head coach to lose his job under the Clearlake Capital-Boehly ownership after Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.

Bruno Saltor managed Chelsea for one game last season, before Frank Lampard took interim charge, meaning a total of five managers have worked under Chelsea’s current owners in two years.

A run of five successive wins at the end of this season clinched European qualification for Chelsea under Pochettino, who also took the club to the final of the Carabao Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup.

The Argentine has left with his head held high and his reputation intact. But, in the view of key figures at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s season, viewed as a whole, fell short of pre-season expectations and raised issues such as the crippling injury list.

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.”

Confirming Telegraph Sport’s exclusive, Chelsea also announced that Pochettino’s coaching staff, Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have left the club.

Sporting directors Winstanley and Stewart 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.”

Pochettino is in fact scheduled to make an instant return to Stamford Bridge – if he honours an invitation to coach in a charity match next month.

The 52-year-old had been pencilled in to take charge of a Soccer Aid World XI against an England select at Chelsea’s ground on Sunday June 9 to raise funds for Unicef.

His designated co-coach for the match is former Chelsea right-hand man Jesus Perez and among the players already selected for the World XI are former Stamford Bridge favourite Eden Hazard, ex-Brazil left-back Roberto Carlos and sprint legend Usain Bolt.

Managing the England side is another former Chelsea coach Frank Lampard, along with Harry Redknapp, David Seaman and Robbie Williams and their line-up is a wide mix of sports stars and celebrities including distance runner Sir Mo Farah, ex-Chelsea players Joe Cole and Gary Cahill, comedian Paddy McGuinness and retired England women’s international Jill Scott.

Pochettino leaves Chelsea: As it happened...

08:41 PM BST

Farewell

And that’s the lot from our live coverage of the big news from the Bridge this evening, which was broken exclusively by Telegraph Sport’s Matt Law. His report above will be updated as any new info breaks.

08:38 PM BST

Instant return for Poch

It’s just been pointed out here that Pochettino will be back at the Bridge shortly... as he has been invited to coach in a charity match next month, taking charge of a Soccer Aid World XI against an England select at Chelsea’s ground on June 9.

Managing the England side is another former Chelsea coach, Frank Lampard.

08:35 PM BST

Revolving door

The club will no doubt be on the case to find a replacement for Pochettino already and are understood to want to get a deal done sharpish.

The new man will be the third permanent head coach appointed under the Clearlake Capital-Boehly ownership after Graham Potter and Pochettino. Considering that Bruno Saltor managed them for one game last season and Frank Lampard had an interim spell, the next manager will be the sixth to have worked under Chelsea’s owners in two years (including Thomas Tuchel, who was there when they arrived).

08:19 PM BST

Merson chips in

The Arsenal legend shares his thoughts on today’s news:

08:16 PM BST

Potential successors part 3

Matt Law writes:

08:12 PM BST

Potential successors part 2

The other two mentioned by Matt Law in his earlier report (hold on, another one has just been mentioned, but we’ll get to that shortly...) are two coaches from overseas:

Sebastian Hoeness has been touted as Germany’s next great young manager after he turned Stuttgart from relegation fodder into the second-placed side this season. However, that means he will have Champions League football with the Bundesliga side next term, something Chelsea cannot offer.

Girona’s Michel, who had a humble playing career mostly with Rayo Vallecano, has won three promotions from the Spanish second tier with three different clubs in a six-year managerial career, and took little Girona to third in La Liga this season.

08:08 PM BST

Potential successors part 1

So who are the four coaches listed by Matt Law as potential successors to Pochettino?

Let’s start by looking at the two England-based possible candidates.

Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, who has also been lined up by Brighton as a potential replacement for Roberto De Zerbi, led the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League with effectively the same team that was constructed in the third tier. Telegraph Sport’s chief football correspondent Jason Burt did this interview with the former Man Utd coach earlier this season.

Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca, a disciple of Pep Guardiola, just led the Midlands side to an instant return to the Premier League, as well as the Championship title. John Percy spoke to the Italian about his football philosophy in this interview.

07:53 PM BST

The inside story

Here is the inside story of how Pochettino’s exit was sealed during 24 hours of talks among the Chelsea hierarchy.

Matt Law, Telegraph Sport’s football news correspondent, says philosophical differences and a desire to avoid a messy end led to amicable divorce between the two parties

Read the full article here.

07:48 PM BST

Morgan reacts to our news

07:42 PM BST

Who’s next in the hot seat?

Matt Law has written about what Chelsea will be looking for from their next head coach – and who the candidates might be.

Read the full article here.

07:30 PM BST

More from Chelsea

The club have also said that Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have left.

They added they “will be making no further comment until such time as a new head coach is appointed”.

07:24 PM BST

Poch speaks

Also on the official Chelsea website, they have published this quote from Pochettino:

07:23 PM BST

What Chelsea have said

The club has posted on their official website:

07:20 PM BST

Official confirmation from Chelsea

Chelsea have now confirmed the Matt Law’s exclusive for Telegraph Sport...

07:16 PM BST

Structural issues

Pochettino leaves despite overseeing an upturn over the last few months, with Chelsea in the top four on form since the new year. He even secured European football for a side who were languishing in mid table for much of the season, but in the end, it seems it was a reluctance to work within the club’s structure which was key.

07:08 PM BST

Two-day meeting sealed decision

Telegraph’s Sport’s Matt Law has broken this massive exclusive. He revealed the Argentine’s future would be resolved at the club’s end-of-season review, which started on Monday and rolled into this morning.

06:55 PM BST

Boehly wined and dined Pochettino last week

Only last Friday, Todd Boehly, one of the Chelsea co-owners, wined and dined Pochettino. The manager refused to disclose what was discussed at that dinner, however.

Curiously, for the last game of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign the matchday programme made no mention of the Argentine at all.

“All I can tell you is on Friday night, Todd invited me for a dinner and it was a very nice dinner together,” said Pochettino after the final match. “But I don’t know about the rumours about the review. My staff tomorrow are flying for their holidays. I am going to stay in London for a few more days. I am always open. My phone is going to be on.”

Asked what was discussed at his dinner with Boehly, Pochettino replied: “I am not going to explain. It is only for you to know that I was with him. I’m not going to talk about this. If I invite you along, and you and me have dinner, it’s not for bad things. I don’t believe that.”