Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea two days after end of Premier League season

Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea, just two days after the end of his first season in charge of the Stamford Bridge club.

The Argentine departs one year into a two-year deal, having finished sixth in the Premier League and winning their final five games of the season.

His future was the subject of an internal end-of-season review with Chelsea sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who will now search for the fourth full-time manager under the current ownership since their takeover in 2022.

But Pochettino is leaving by mutual consent, according to a statement from the club, following conversations with the co-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 in a statement.

“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”

Pochettino thanked Chelsea’s ownership group in the club’s statement, and added: “The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

Pochettino’s backroom staff have also left the club, with Chelsea beginning their search for a new manager with immediate effect.

Pochettino had voiced his frustrations at a number of issues at the club during his first season, while Chelsea also underperformed given their considerable investment in playing staff and amid a lengthy injury list.

The former Tottenham manager had steadied the team over recent weeks, however, guiding Chelsea to European qualification for next season thanks to improved performances on the pitch.

The character of Chelsea’s young squad had been questioned following the Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool and 5-0 thrashing against Arsenal in March, but Pochettino had appeared to turn results around.

Pochettino was pushed on his future following a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth on the final day of the Premier League season, stating: “That is a question for the owners and the sporting director.”

Pochettino departs having been denied a first major trophy in English football following defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

The Reds snatched victory in extra-time despite fielding several youngsters in the Wembley final.

“For the history of Chelsea, it is hard to celebrate [finishing sixth],” Pochettino said on Sunday, following a mixed season, which saw his side humbled with heavy defeats at Anfield and the Emirates.

“But it is the first step to achieve bigger things after. We are really close. Season by season it is about improving. We know how we need to compete next season. We have a young squad but with more experience in the Premier League now.”

Todd Boehly and the Blues hierarchy must now appoint another manager, with former boss Thomas Tuchel, who has just left Bayern Munich, a candidate.

While Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna and Roberto De Zerbi, having recently departed Brighton by mutual consent, have also been linked with the job.

The new boss will take charge for Chelsea’s first pre-season fixture scheduled for 23 July against Wrexham in Santa Clara, California.

Further games against Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real Madrid are also in the schedule.