Mauricio Pochettino is emerging as the favourite to land the permanent head coach job at Chelsea following a dramatic 24 hours in which Julian Nagelsmann dropped out of the running and Vincent Kompany was placed on the club’s shortlist.
Nagelsmann had been one of the frontrunners for the Chelsea post since the sacking of Graham Potter, but will not be part of the process moving forwards with the Blues now working from a three-man shortlist and hoping to agree an appointment in the next 10 days.
Pochettino is at the top of that list, which also features surprise candidate Kompany, who has clinched promotion to the Premier League with Burnley, and an unnamed coach who is said to be liked and respected by Chelsea.
There is now momentum gathering behind former Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino, who has held a series of positive talks with Chelsea this week and is seen internally as an extremely strong candidate who ticks a number of boxes ahead of what should be the final round of discussions.
Telegraph Sport this week revealed that Luis Enrique had slipped out of contention and that contact has been made with all the candidates on Chelsea’s shortlist, including Pochettino.
Pochettino has held more than one round of talks with Chelsea already with warmth growing towards the Argentine, who was interviewed for the job before Potter was appointed head coach.
Representatives of Pochettino have refused to comment on the situation and Chelsea must consider whether or not his background as a former manager of Tottenham represents an insurmountable hurdle with resistance over that issue appearing to be subsiding.
Pochettino’s name has been sung by Spurs fans who want him to return to fill their club’s head coach vacancy, but chairman Daniel Levy has so far made no move in that direction.
As things stand, Pochettino would not face a decision between Chelsea and Tottenham if the Stamford Bridge club offered him the chance to permanently succeed Potter.
Chelsea have taken note of the fact that Pochettino over-achieved at Tottenham, almost winning the Premier League title and reaching the final of the Champions League, with a young team after overseeing an overhaul of the squad when highly-paid stars such as Emmanuel Adebayor left the club.
Pochettino is the coach who best managed his relationship with Tottenham chairman Levy, which may be relevant given the hands-on nature in which Chelsea’s latest owners have worked and their desire for all departments to be collaborative, and took the club through a stadium rebuild when the team had to play at Wembley.
At Paris Saint-Germain, Pochettino won the Ligue 1 title by 15 points and won the French Cup in his first season in charge. Having witnessed Thomas Tuchel’s success at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will also be aware of the record of coaches who have been sacked by PSG.
As well as Tuchel winning the Champions League with Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti has been crowned European champion twice since leaving PSG, while Unai Emery has won the Europa League and has been a huge success on his return to England with Aston Villa.
The fact Pochettino has not won a trophy in England is not expected to count against him in the eyes of Chelsea, who may believe he would have even more motivation to win silverware with the Blues because of that.
Despite the momentum behind Pochettino, Chelsea are insistent that they will follow through on their process to appoint a new head coach which is expected to be completed in the next 10 days.
The numerous rounds of talks has contributed to Nagelsmann no longer being part of the process, with the German not wanting to take part in a perceived beauty parade and Chelsea sticking to their guns on how they want to reach a conclusion. Nagelsmann is not expected to fill the vacant Tottenham job, either.
Chelsea had always denied reports that Nagelsmann had been their favoured candidate from the outset, while the 35-year-old’s camp had grown frustrated with what they saw as indecision from the Premier League club.
The progression of Kompany, who is also admired by Burnley, to the final stages of the Chelsea process is a surprise but it would be an even bigger shock were he were to eventually be offered the job.
Kompany’s achievements at Burnley and Anderlecht are impressive, while Chelsea have also taken note of his leadership qualities and the fact he played for so long in the Premier League and the Champions League for Manchester City.
But the Belgian has not yet managed in a major European league, which would make him a huge risk after Chelsea’s gamble on taking Potter from Brighton backfired.
The identity of the third leading candidate on Chelsea’s shortlist has not been revealed with sources refusing to confirm his identity. Feyenoord’s Arne Slot is a coach the club have done full due diligence on, finding out that the 44-year-old coaches his side in Dutch and English, while Germany coach Hansi Flick has been a visitor at Stamford Bridge.
Just as Nagelsmann has not yet worked outside Germany, Slot has so far only coached in Holland which would be a risk for Chelsea at a time when co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbahli know they cannot afford to get the appointment of their next permanent head coach wrong.
Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have led the process so far with Boehly and Eghbali expected to play a more prominent role in the final round of talks.
