Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one year

LONDON, England (AP):

Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consent, the Premier League club said yesterday.

Pochettino spent just one season as manager at Stamford Bridge and endured a troubled campaign in which he failed to secure qualification for the Champions League.

"On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season. He will be welcomed back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career," Chelsea sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement.

Chelsea finished sixth in the standings, were beaten finalists in the English League Cup and reached the semifinals of the FA Cup.

Former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager Pochettino took over last summer after Chelsea's American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital had fired Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter in their first year in charge.

While Pochettino managed to salvage the 2023-24 season by securing European in either the Europa League or Conference League, it was another disappointing year for a team that won the Champions League as recently as 2021.

"Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history," Pochettino said in yesterday's announcement. "The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."

Under Boehly and Clearlake, Chelsea spent around US$1 billion on transfers, but that has not translated into success on the field.

Pochettino was expected to turn Chelsea into a team capable of challenging for the Premier League title again. The west London club won England's top division five times under former owner Roman Abramovich.

After a difficult start to the season, Chelsea's form picked up from the turn of the year and the team went on to lose just three league games in 2024, ending the campaign with five straight wins.

Despite those improvements, Pochettino's position remained in doubt.

Amid speculation about his future, the 52-year-old Argentine said earlier this month that it was "not going to be the end of the world" if he lost his job and hinted at his own dissatisfaction with his first year at the club.