Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea FC have reached an agreement in principle for the Argentine to assume the position of the team’s new head coach.
Chelsea have been on the search for a permanent successor to Graham Potter for the past month and have spoken to various candidates.
Chelsea’s co-owners initially spoke to Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann, but backed away from Enrique after an initial round of talks and Nagelsmann withdrew from contention last week.
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Vincent Kompany, Ruben Amorim, and Luciano Spalletti were also considered, but Pochettino emerged as Chelsea’s top candidate.
The two parties have been negotiating over the last few days, and it is understood that an agreement has been reached in principle.
The makeup of Pochettino’s backroom staff is still being discussed, with the Argentine looking to bring his four usual coaches to west London.
Pochettino had previously turned down an approach from Chelsea in February, partly because Potter was still in the job at that time.
He has been out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season and had been interested in a return to former club Tottenham. However, an approach from the north London side never came, paving the way for Chelsea to make their move.