Chelsea confirmed that Pochettino had left by mutual consent earlier this evening, just days after the Argentine had steered the club to European football with a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League.
The 52-year-old also led Chelsea to the Carabao Cup final, where they were beaten by Liverpool, and took the west London giants to the semi-finals of the FA Cup before being eliminated by Manchester City.
Pochettino’s sudden departure means the Blues will have gone through seven different managers in the space of only eight years, with Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, Graham Potter, Lampard (interim) and Pochettino all coming and going at Stamford Bridge.
The search for Pochettino’s replacement begins with immediate effect and a host of high-profile figures have been mooted as potential successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Frank and Hansi Flick, as well as former fan favourites Thomas Tuchel and Jose Mourinho.
However, Roberto De Zerbi has emerged as the early bookmakers’ favourite to take charge at Chelsea after leaving his post as head coach of Brighton at the end of the season.
‘Just hearing the news about Pochettino, cannot believe he’s gone. Cannot believe it,’ ex-Arsenal and England midfielder Merson – a lifelong supporter of Chelsea – said in a video on his Instagram page.
‘Whoever is making this decision… how are you going to replace a manager like him? Just got team going, went on a great run, got into Europe.
‘He got them to sixth in the league from where they were and he’s just got this team playing.
‘It’s madness. I cannot, cannot, cannot believe what I’m hearing.’
Gus Poyet, meanwhile, an FA Cup winner with Chelsea in 2000, was taken aback by the news of Pochettino’s departure, saying it goes to show that ‘everything is possible in football’.
‘My initial reaction was: I know nothing about football. I don’t know, nothing surprises me now,’ the ex-Chelsea, Tottenham and Uruguay midfielder told Sky Sports.
‘I think the best moment of Pochettino was the last two months, by far, and everybody close to Chelsea, we were expecting a great summer and the start of something important for next year.
‘But we don’t know the inside. I was shocked. Someone told me and I couldn’t believe it. I started checking on my phone because it was kind of impossible. But everything is possible in football.’
Poyet believes Chelsea’s next manager will be walking into a ‘very difficult’ challenge considering the vastly inexperienced squad they will be inheriting from Pochettino.
‘I think before Pochettino went there, I always thought that at Chelsea you must win,’ he added.
‘And I remember Poch saying in the beginning, “I’m at Chelsea and I need to win”, but then you get a group of players that is totally different to the players that are winning the Premier League.
‘If you look at the age of the Manchester City players and how many years they have been together. If you look at Liverpool and the club, how they grow up and keep bringing players.
‘Even Arsenal, it’s a couple of years and they’re still not good enough to win the Premier League.
‘If you want to do that with Chelsea, with I don’t know how many new players, and very young ones and most of them foreigners, it’s very difficult.
‘I thought the idea was to continue [with Pochettino]. I was wrong, I don’t know the reasons but it was a big surprise today.’
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