Frank Leboeuf admits he loves 51-year-old who could reportedly be Chelsea’s next manager

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Frank Lebouef has admitted that he really loves Chelsea target Mauricio Pochettino as a manager.

Mauricio Pochettino, 51, is emerging in the past 24 hours as a really strong option to take charge at Stamford Bridge next season.

Sky Sports reported last night that Pochettino is the outstanding candidate on a three-man shortlist of managers now being considered by Chelsea. Incidentally, he’s joined by Burnley’s Vincent Kompany and an unnamed coach as the final contenders.

This comes after journalist Fabrizio Romano explained on Twitter yesterday that Julian Nagelsmann decided to withdraw himself from the race to be the next Blues manager.

Lebouef, who’s a former Chelsea player and current pundit, appears to like the idea of Pochettino ending up in West London.

He does raise the pressure at the football club as one possible concern for the 51-year-old, but the former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham boss has worked in tough environments before.

Writing in Simon Phillips’ Substack, Leboeuf said: “I love both Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino did a very good job at Tottenham, and Nagelsmann did a very good job at Leipzig.

“I would say that for both of them they didn’t carry the same enthusiasm at PSG and Bayern respectively.

“I’m not sure that Nagelsmann or Pochettino would be able to handle the pressure of managing Chelsea right now, especially with where we are and how the fans are feeling right now.

“I would rather go with Pochettino because there was real pressure from the fans at Tottenham.

“I don’t have a problem with the fact that Pochettino used to manage Tottenham. Jose Mourinho went to Spurs, so did Antonio Conte, so why is it an issue the other way around? I don’t have any problem with that.”

The rumours suggest that Pochettino could end up being Chelsea’s next manager, which would have seemed impossible if you rewind to his time at Spurs.

According to Miguel Delaney’s newsletter for The Independent, Pochettino has impressed Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly with his plan to develop the club’s young stars.

Let’s wait and see if he’s about to seal a return to the Premier League.