Journalist: Chelsea spoke with 51-year-old manager last week, but he’s viewed as a ‘back-up option’

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Mauricio Pochettino is not considered a frontrunner in the race to become Chelsea’s next permanent manager, according to reports.

The Blues currently have Frank Lampard in place as the caretaker boss until the summer, but they still need to find a long-term appointment ahead of next season.

Journalist Simon Phillips has shared that Chelsea did hold talks with Mauricio Pochettino last week.

However, there’s been no more contact yet with the 51-year-old manager, who’s viewed as a “back-up option” by the Stamford Bridge hierarchy.

“I’ve only had info about Pochettino. Chelsea spoke to him last week as well, but that hasn’t gone any further. There’s not much more to it than that,” Phillips told GiveMeSport.

“There have been no official interviews or face-to-face chats with him yet. It’s sort of been initial talks for now. But in terms of Pochettino, I can’t see that moving very far at the moment. He’s certainly been one of the more back-up options that Chelsea are looking at and they’ll certainly speak to more candidates as well.”

Danny Murphy said last week he thinks Pochettino and Chelsea could be a great fit. It sounds like that is someway off right now, though.

The Argentine coach is currently out of work and is yet to return to football since exiting Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

However, he’s an attack-minded manager with an eye-catching CV and a lot to like about him.

He was successful in winning a league title at PSG under immense pressure. Meanwhile, he helped turn Spurs into an incredible competitor with a very talented XI, albeit he couldn’t quite get them over the line to win silverware.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking on the Here We Go Podcast over the weekend, explained that Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique are two high-profile available managers in the running for the Chelsea job. In particular, Nagelsmann is the current favourite.

While the focus from fans is on Chelsea’s performances on the pitch, let’s hope the ownership are working hard to find the right candidate to be the next permanent manager.