Mauricio Pochettino is leaving Chelsea by mutual consent, the Premier League club announced Tuesday.
“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history,” he said “The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”
The decision was made after Pochettino met with Chelsea officials to discuss his future following the club’s sixth-place finish in the Premier League during the Argentine coach’s first season in charge, according to Matt Law of The Telegraph.
Pochettino agreed to depart after an end-of-season review meeting with Chelsea sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season,” Winstanley and Stewart said. “He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time, and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain boss leaves one year into the two-year contract he agreed to in May 2023.
The Blues struggled during the first half of the 2023-24 season but turned things around and managed to qualify for the Europa Conference League next season by winning their last five games of the campaign.
Chelsea will now look to appoint a coach who’s younger and more progressive than the 52-year-old, Law adds.
VfB Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, Girona’s Michel, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, and Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca could be targeted by Chelsea this summer, Law reports.
Pochettino is the third Chelsea manager to lose his job since Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly bought the club in May 2022. Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have also been dismissed.
