The 51-year-old Argentine, who is set to return to the Premier League after being sacked by Chelsea’s London rivals Spurs in November 2019, will take over from caretaker manager Frank Lampard at the end of this season.
Pochettino will permanently succeed Graham Potter, who was dismissed at the start of April after less than seven months in charge.
Despite spending £600m in the last two transfer windows, Chelsea are in the bottom half of the Premier League and will end the season without a trophy, while they will also not play in European competition next season.
Pochettino has been out of work since being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain last summer after 18 months in charge of the French side, having guided them to the Ligue 1 title in 2022 and the French Cup the year before.
The ex-Espanyol boss managed Spurs for five years from May 2014 but failed to win a trophy at the north London club.
He led them to the 2019 Champions League final, which they lost to Liverpool, and also guided them to the 2015 League Cup final and a second-place finish in the 2016/17 Premier League season, with Chelsea winning both competitions.
Despite spending £600m in the last two transfer windows, Chelsea are in the bottom half of the Premier League and will end the season without a trophy, while they will also not play in European competition next season.
“Mauricio Pochettino knows that he will have a big job on his hands at Chelsea with rebuilding. The squad is huge, the numbers need to come well down.
“We also heard Harry Kane talk this week about the values that were created under Mauricio Pochettino, and that is something that he has, you would say, as his biggest strength. He knows how to bring a group of players together. He is very much a people person, somebody who can galvanise and work with what he has got.
“Chelsea have spent a large amount of money, but he will have money to spend as well you would expect to tweak and add further strength in certain positions. But what has become clear over the last few weeks is that he will be the next Chelsea manager, and it appears now that Chelsea have got their man.”
Source: Sky sports
In other news-President Mnangagwa fires 17 top CIOs
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday fired 17 top State security operatives believed to have facilitated the meeting between former President Robert Mugabe and opposition National People’s Party leader Joice Mujuru in Harare last week.
It is understood that the security agents were reportedly being punished for failing to reveal the intelligence of the meeting before it took place at Mugabe’s Blue Roof mansion in Borrowdale.
According to leaked Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) documents, the top government spooks were served with dismissal letters yesterday. The letters were signed by new CIO director-general Isaac Moyo and were dated February 5. Learn more
