Report: Mauricio Pochettion wants financial ‘assurances’ from Chelsea owners before taking over

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Mauricio Pochettino wants financial assurances from Chelsea in order to build a squad he wants on his terms, according to journalist James Olley.

Pochettino has been the leading candidate to become the next Chelsea manager for quite some time now with the two parties reportedly in the final phase of the negotiations.

Obviously, Frank Lampard’s presence as a caretaker manager means Chelsea under less pressure to announce an immediate appointment, but the sooner they finalise a deal, the sooner they can start their preparation for the next season, too.

Olley, however, claims that Pochettino still has some concerns about Chelsea’s financial situation.

“Pochettino wants certain assurances, probably more financial one than anything else, because Chelsea spent an awful lot of money [recently],” Olley told ESPN FC when speaking about the Blues’ managerial hunt.

“If they don’t qualify for European football, which is looking increasingly likely, they may have some issues down the line with Financial Fair Play.

“That’s going to mean that a lot of players are going to have to be sold quickly.

“Pochettino’s going to want to be making those decisions with Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, and the other Chelsea directors.

“I think Pochettino wants to make sure that he can have the squad that he wants on his terms.

“[Chelsea] can’t necessarily afford to do that this summer because of those FFP concerns.

“So I think there are one or two things that they are resolving but the direction of travel seems to be Chelsea want Pochettino and Pochettino’s open to going to Chelsea.”

It is likely that Chelsea’s spending power this summer will depend on how much they can raise from player sales.

That said, missing out on European football also means the club will have an extra year to balance their accounts to remain compliant with UEFA’s FFP regulations.

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