Pochettino leaves Chelsea by mutual consent

Chelsea have announced that head coach Mauricio Pochettino has left by mutual consent.  

In a statement the club said: "Chelsea FC can confirm that the Club and Mauricio Pochettino have mutually agreed to part ways."

Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley thanked Pochettino, stating: "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."

Chelsea also confirmed that Pochettino's assistants Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left. 

The statement added: "Chelsea will be making no further comment until such time as a new Head Coach is appointed."

Pochettino had been appointed last summer, starting his role on 1 July 2023. 

Chelsea had struggled at the start of the season, with a 2-0 defeat at Everton on 10 December leaving them 13th with 19 points after 16 matches.  But despite numerous injuries to first-team players, Pochettino was able to turn things around and a five-match winning streak ultimately lifted Chelsea to sixth and a place in UEFA competition.  

The Blues tally of 63 points represented a 19-point improvement on the previous campaign.

They also scored 77 Premier League goals, their third-most across a single campaign behind 2009/10 (103 goals) and 2016/17 (85), both of which ended with them winning the title. 

Whoever succeeds Pochettino will become the fifth head coach or manager of Chelsea after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, in a caretaker role, since the start of the 2022/23 season.