Chelsea manager Mauricio Pcohettino
Chelsea are worried that sacking Mauricio Pochettino might put them in trouble with Premier League profit and sustainability rules, a report has claimed – while another has confirmed the minimum number of games he has left at the club.
Pochettino is under pressure to save his job as Chelsea’s head coach, just seven months after his appointment. The Blues lost 4-2 to Wolves over the weekend, which leaves them in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Chelsea are now three games without a win across all competitions and have conceded four goals each in the last two of them.
After the loss to Wolves on Sunday, sources told TEAMtalk that Pochettino is in trouble, with club chiefs considering his future.
Chelsea were not afraid to sack Graham Potter after just seven months last season, despite previously putting their faith in him for the long term, and Pochettino could face a similar fate if immediate improvements aren’t visible.
Quite simply, he needs some key players to step up in the coming weeks as he fights to save his job.
According to the Daily Mail, though, Chelsea would have to pay more than £10m in severance fees to dismiss Pochettino and his backroom staff.
That could land them in bother with the Premier League after their careful work in January to avoid falling foul of spending rules in the transfer market.
If they do sack Pochettino and his staff before the summer, the associated costs would go on their books for the current season, which would heighten the pressure on them to sell some players before the end of June.
After all, clubs are only permitted to lose certain amounts of money over relevant periods and while Chelsea have stayed within the boundaries so far, getting rid of Pochettino would be another outlay.
It follows their difficulty in selling players in January such as Armando Broja, who they ended up having to give to Fulham on loan, and not being able to make any new signings of their own midway through the season.
It marked a stark contrast to the same time last year when they were breaking the British transfer record – for the first of two times in 2023 – to sign Enzo Fernandez and also splashing out on the likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke.
Like their choices with managers, Chelsea have had far from a perfect success rate with their signings and Pochettino would surely have some ideas in mind of how he would ideally like the team to be improved.
Chelsea will have to be mindful of the whole situation when considering whether or not to drop the axe on Pochettino.
The report claims they will use statistics to back up their judgements, though – which might make Pochettino worry.
How long is Pochettino safe?
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is in danger of being sacked
Nevertheless, an update from HITC has claimed that Chelsea will allow Pochettino the chance to stay in charge for their Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on February 25.
In other words, he will be at the helm for all of their remaining games this month, even if his status beyond then could be in doubt.
Chelsea reached the final by overturning a first-leg semi-final deficit and beating Middlesbrough 6-1, which remains their most recent victory.
Chelsea have three games on their schedule before the Carabao Cup final, starting with Wednesday’s FA Cup replay at Aston Villa before Premier League games against Crystal Palace and Manchester City, so Pochettino has four games at the very least to prepare for.
Even if he survives that run, his long-term future is in doubt. Chelsea only gave him a two-year contract when bringing him back to the Premier League in the summer after his previous spells with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, perhaps learning their lesson from the long-term commitment they gave to Potter before backtracking.
Pochettino knows he has to turn things around and said after the Wolves game: “I am human.
“Of course, it’s not a nice situation. In football, you have to accept that.
“With a club like Chelsea, with the expectation, you need to accept that. To be in this business, in this type of club, you need to be strong.
“I think we are all not good enough. At the moment this is the reality. Myself, also. What we are showing is we are not good enough.”
