Chelsea players are excited by the prospect of Mauricio Pochettino becoming the club’s next permanent head coach.
Pochettino has emerged as the favorite to permanently succeed Graham Potter following a series of positive talks between the Argentine and Chelsea.
Chelsea’s admiration of Pochettino is advancing with the club hoping to settle on their new man soon, following a process led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
The move towards Pochettino has been welcomed in the Chelsea dressing-room, with players saying to be positive and excited about his possible appointment.
Chelsea’s England players have international team-mates who have worked under Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur and there is acknowledgment in the squad for his coaching skills, together with his reputation for being a good man-manager and motivator.
Pochettino is also seen as a coach with the sort of profile and experience, having also been in charge at Paris Saint-Germain, befitting of Chelsea by some of the more experienced and successful members of the club’s squad.
The arrival of Pochettino would not be good news for all of Chelsea’s players, though, as the 51-year-old would back plans for a clear-out to cut the current 31-man squad down in time for the start of pre-season .
Pochettino is at the top of a shortlist that has been cut down to three, along with Vincent Kompany and one unnamed candidate. Chelsea have carried out thorough due diligence on Feyenoord’s Arne Slot and Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou.
Chelsea had been fearful that Pochettino’s association with Spurs could be a difficulty, but those worries have now subsided significantly and the Argentine does not think to see it as an issue as he has not yet been contacted about the vacancy at Tottenham.
Were Spurs or Real Madrid to make a late move, then Pochettino would be faced with a decision to make, but there is currently no thought to be anything stopping him from accepting an offer from Chelsea should it arrive.