Another day brought yet more twists in Chelsea’s search for a new head coach.
Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as the leading candidate to fill the role vacated last month by Graham Potter. Julian Nagelsmann, much fancied and available following his March departure from Bayern Munich, has dropped out of contention and joined Luis Enrique — another candidate perceived to be very much in the reckoning earlier in the process — on the periphery. Vincent Kompany has also been revealed as a potential contender fresh from steering Burnley back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Chelsea, their own 2022-23 season now reduced to the dissatisfaction of mid-table, will continue for the remaining seven games under the interim stewardship of Frank Lampard, but still aim to make an appointment before the finale on May 28 to lift the mood. More clarity is expected in days rather than weeks.
So what is the current situation? Why has Pochettino, a former Tottenham Hotspur manager, suddenly established himself as the leading candidate, to lead one of their biggest rivals, while Nagelsmann has dropped out of contention? And where does Kompany fit into all this?
Let The Athletic attempt to explain…
How many are on the shortlist now and who are they?
Three people lead the way as things stand: Pochettino, Kompany and one highly-rated candidate whose identity Chelsea have managed to keep secret so far.
There are other coaches ranked below that trio whom the club like, but on whom they have yet to complete proper due diligence. There remains the possibility the club could speak to them in the coming weeks.
As an illustration of just how swiftly this story is moving, Nagelsmann was still being spoken about as a prominent name on a four-strong short-list earlier on Friday. Then, later in the day, he was considered to no longer be in the frame.
Why is Pochettino considered the leading candidate?
In short, he ticks a lot of Chelsea’s boxes.
The Argentinian has coached in the Premier League before, has worked with star players at Tottenham and, more recently, Paris Saint-Germain and has helped youngsters develop to become major names in the game. Principal among the latter is Harry Kane.
Chelsea admire the work Pochettino did across London — he spent over five years at Spurs and built an impressive team who overachieved in reaching the 2018-19 Champions League final.
The 51-year-old is experienced and has coached in three of the top five domestic leagues: Spain (Espanyol), England (Southampton and Tottenham) and France (PSG). Pochettino may only have won the Ligue 1 championship and French Cup as a manager so far, but he is seen as hungry with the potential to develop and become even better, rather than a figure who might rest on past achievements.
There is an appreciation, too, for his tactical nous.
Why is Nagelsmann out of the picture?
It’s complicated — this is Chelsea after all — and there are always two sides to the story.
There is no denying Nagelsmann was of interest to Chelsea. His reputation was established in Germany and it helped he had worked with Chelsea’s co-sporting director Laurence Stewart and technical director Christopher Vivell earlier in his career when they were all at RB Leipzig.
Having been sacked by Bayern in March, technically he is on gardening leave and is still being paid by the Bundesliga champions, the German met Chelsea officials recently for an initial round of talks which were held outside England. The sense was that those discussions went well. There were plans for a second meet-up in London, though that did not materialise as Nagelsmann decided Chelsea were not right for him.
The 35-year-old ultimately had some doubts about the set-up he would be joining. He made the decision to pull out on Thursday — even if it took 24 hours for that to become public knowledge.
Is that how Chelsea saw the situation develop?
No. Sources connected to the club, who have spoken to The Athletic on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, paint a rather different picture.
Chelsea have always made it clear this would be a thorough and exhaustive process. There is a determination not to rush the appointment in the same way they did when turning to Brighton coach Potter within 12 hours of sacking Thomas Tuchel last September.
The circumstances at Chelsea are different this time around. Back then the club’s new co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, were overseeing the whole process. They had only completed their takeover three months previously and were still putting their own management structure in place at Stamford Bridge.
Now they have co-sporting directors Stewart and Paul Winstanley leading the hunt for a new coach, with their support.
As far as Chelsea are concerned, they decided Nagelsmann was not quite the right fit for them — a conclusion they reached unanimously.
So why has he gone from contender to out of the race completely?
Chelsea never regarded him as their first choice. There is a possibility Nagelsmann had the wrong impression that the club were going to make a swift appointment, and maybe read too much into being part of the interview process from the outset.
While his achievements in management are respected, Chelsea questioned why Bayern chose to dismiss him at such a key time in the season, less than three weeks before a Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City and with a tough title race ongoing versus Borussia Dortmund, who they faced in Tuchel’s first game in charge.
Chelsea are exploring each candidate’s leadership ability, how they would work within the current setup at the club, and assessing their ability as tacticians. There were concerns on all of these fronts with Nagelsmann.
It was also noted he had only ever coached in Germany after previous stints at Hoffenheim and then Leipzig.
So they turned to Pochettino instead?
Chelsea actually ranked Pochettino above Nagelsmann from the get-go.
Cynics will understandably question that as rather convenient now the German has ruled himself out of contention, but it is worth remembering this is the third time Pochettino has come under consideration at Stamford Bridge.
The first was under the previous regime, around the time Lampard was dismissed in January 2021. Had he not already given his word to take over at PSG, it might have been Pochettino rather than Tuchel who was appointed that winter.
Even more significantly, Boehly and Eghbali have already interviewed him. They met the former Argentina international defender last September and liked what they heard even if, back then, the duo still decided to pursue Potter.
They have revisited that interest in recent weeks. There have been more talks with Pochettino, who is thought to have impressed. The Athletic has been told he mentioned a few of the players in the current squad he would like to be part of his plans next season if he is granted the chance to take over.
That should not be misconstrued as Chelsea having decided to go with Pochettino, or Pochettino already assuming the job is his.
Won’t his Spurs past make him unpopular with Chelsea fans?
It is not seen as a major obstacle — that much is clear from the fact he is still in the running. Pochettino’s managerial track record is the most important factor under consideration right now.
Glenn Hoddle had the same scenario to deal with when he was appointed as Chelsea player-manager 30 years ago, and he was soon appreciated by the Stamford Bridge faithful. Hoddle, who starred for Tottenham between 1975 and 1987, is credited with kickstarting Chelsea’s upward trajectory into the club they are today.
Are other clubs interested in Pochettino?
Tottenham have been linked with re-hiring their former coach for a second spell in charge as they look for a successor to Antonio Conte, but they have made no contact with Pochettino and are not expected to do so.
Yet Chelsea could still face competition from a number of other suitors, including Real Madrid, where it is not certain whether Carlo Ancelotti will stay beyond this season or not. Madrid president Florentino Perez admires Pochettino and has considered him before.
While we’re on the subject of Spain, what happened with Luis Enrique?
The former Spain national-team manager did talk to Chelsea and made a positive impression. But there were concerns he had not managed a club since leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2017 and is used to his teams playing a particular style of football perhaps better suited to La Liga than the Premier League.
How strong is Kompany’s case?
It does seem a bit of a strange one, given Potter found the jump from fellow Premier League side Brighton to Chelsea too much to bridge, and yet Chelsea might now give serious thought to appointing Kompany.
The 37-year-old former Belgium international has done very well in his two posts so far, at Anderlecht in his homeland and Burnley. He has helped the latter win promotion from the Championship this season in some style. But, to put it bluntly, that was still just Anderlecht and Burnley. The demands at Chelsea would be very different.
That said, all the candidates are being judged on their ability as leaders. Their characters mean something and, in that regard, Kompany is very much appreciated. The fact he was such an inspirational player, particularly at Manchester City where he was captain and won 10 major trophies in 11 years, is considered a major plus.
Kompany was also coached by Pep Guardiola for his final three years at City. Chelsea see parallels with Mikel Arteta, who worked under Guardiola as his assistant at City before taking up the managerial position at Arsenal in 2019. They are now top of the Premier League.
Burnley, now preparing for life back in the top flight, would resist any interest in their manager from Chelsea. Whether Kompany could do so is another matter entirely.
And what of the mystery third candidate?
This contender, whose identity has yet to be revealed, has made a name for himself as being tactically astute in a perceived lesser league and is thought to be the least likely candidate on the shortlist to end up getting the job.
The sense is Pochettino is emerging as the favourite to take over in the summer. He would want to complete his own due diligence before committing to the role but the process is undoubtedly moving along.
Additional contributors: Raphael Honigstein & David Ornstein
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