Former Real Madrid striker Pedja Mijatovic believes Mauricio Pochettino prefers to wait for an opportunity at Santiago Bernabeu than join Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea’s appointing Frank Lampard as a caretaker manager likely means the club will take their time before making any decision regarding a permanent manager.
There remain several managers linked with the Chelsea job, however, including Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, and Pochettino.
Out of these three, Pochettino is the only one with Premier League experience, having previously managed Chelsea’s London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.
Mijatovic, however, is convinced that the Argentinean would prioritise the possibility of succeeding Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid over a Premier League return.
“It would be big news if Ancelotti were to continue next year and even more so if he doesn’t win the Champions League,” the former Yugoslavia international told Cadena SER.
“He knows that his future is up in the air.
“I think that if Real Madrid had to choose between Zidane and Ancelotti, I would choose Zidane.
“Pochettino didn’t want to coach Chelsea or Tottenham because he has something better and that smells bad to Ancelotti.
“Ancelotti knows he is being questioned and that’s why he has opened the door to Brazil.”
It is hard to argue that managing this relatively settled Real Madrid team would be less challenging than being in charge of the early phase of the project at Chelsea under their new ownership.
In addition to their poor form this season, Chelsea are also facing a few big tasks this summer, including trimming their squad and raising funds from player sales for FFP purposes.
This would not be the case for Ancelotti or his potential successor at Real Madrid.
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