Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consent after meeting with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali over the course of two days.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that Pochettino agreed to his departure with Chelsea late on Tuesday morning, following the club’s end-of-season review that started on Monday.
There is not thought to be any bad blood between Pochettino and Chelsea, who will immediately start their search for a replacement with a young and progressive coach to be targeted.
Among the names likely to be considered will be Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, Girona’s Michel, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, who has been lined up by Brighton, and Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca.
Pochettino had met co-controlling owner Todd Boehly for dinner last Friday night, before, on Monday and Tuesday, spending several hours with Winstanley and Stewart, and meeting with Eghbali.
It means Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one year of the two-year contract he signed last summer and is in line to pocket a significant compensation fee.
The departure of Pochettino, which has been described as being ‘amicable’, makes him the third permanent head coach to lose his job under the Clearlake Capital-Boehly ownership after Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
Bruno Saltor managed Chelsea for one game last season, before Frank Lampard took interim charge, meaning a total of five managers have worked under Chelsea’s current owners in two years.
A run of five successive wins at the end of this season clinched European qualification for Chelsea under Pochettino, who also took the club to the final of the Carabao Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
The Argentine has left with his head held high and his reputation intact. But, in the view of key figures at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s season, viewed as a whole, fell short of pre-season expectations and raised issues such as the crippling injury list.
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.”
Confirming Telegraph Sport’s exclusive, Chelsea also announced that Pochettino’s coaching staff, Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino, have left the club.
Sporting directors Winstanley and Stewart said: “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 is scheduled to make an instant return to Stamford Bridge – if he honours an invitation to coach in a charity match next month.
The 52-year-old Argentine had been pencilled in to take charge of a Soccer Aid World XI against an England select at Chelsea’s ground on Sunday June 9 to raise funds for Unicef.
His designated co-coach for the match is former Chelsea right-hand man Jesus Perez and among the players already selected for the World XI are former Stamford Bridge favourite Eden Hazard, ex-Brazil left-back Roberto Carlos and sprint legend Usain Bolt.
Managing the England side is another former Chelsea coach Frank Lampard, along with Harry Redknapp, David Seaman and Robbie Williams and their line-up is a wide mix of sports stars and celebrities including distance runner Sir Mo Farah, ex-Chelsea players Joe Cole and Gary Cahill, comedian Paddy McGuinness and retired England women’s international Jill Scott.
