Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea with immediate effect, the club have announced.
The former Tottenham boss was appointed last July but leaves after guiding the team to sixth place in the Premier League on the back of five successive victories.
The 52-year-old had faced speculation over his future for most of this season after the team initially struggled for results, despite the club spending over billion pounds on their squad.
Chelsea sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a club statement: “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 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.”
Pochettino’s assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left the club.
The Argentine had said recently he may walk away from the club but after Sunday’s victory over Bournemouth hinted that he would be back in the dugout for the start of next season.
When asked about reports of a review being carried out by the club’s board he said: “I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.
“I can only tell you that on Friday night Todd invited me for dinner and we had a very nice dinner together.
“But I don’t know about the rumours or the review or stuff like that.”
Pochettino is the third permanent manager to exit Stamford Bridge since the club was bought by the Todd Boehly-led Clearlake Capital consortium from Roman Abramovich in 2022 following Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and caretaker boss Frank Lampard out of the door.
https://www.westlondonsport.com/chelsea/pochettino-exits-chelsea
