The 51-year-old Argentine is tasked with reviving Chelsea’s fortunes after their worst Premier League campaign since 1994.
Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach after the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain manager signed a two-year deal with an option for a further year.
Pochettino will succeed Lampard as interim boss on July 1, the club said on Monday.
“Mauricio is a world-class manager with a fantastic record. We are all looking forward to his joining,” the Chelsea boss said in a statement.
Pochettino, who favors a high-pressing and attacking style of play, is known for nurturing young talent and led Southampton to an eighth-place finish in his first full season in England before joining Tottenham in 2014, where he He has had an impressive 5 1/2 spell, including reaching the Champions League final.
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s new manager!
— Chelsea Football Club (@ChelseaFC) May 29, 2023
The 51-year-old Argentine will be tasked with reviving Chelsea’s fortunes.
The London club won the 2021 Champions League but finished the season without a trophy and finished 12th in the league – their worst season since 1993-94, when they were at Glenn Hoddle are 14th – despite their new American owners spending huge sums on players.
Pochettino is Chelsea’s third permanent manager since its sale in 2022 to a consortium led by Todd Boley, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and backed by private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
Graham Potter was fired in March after nearly seven months in charge. Since then, Frank Lampard has led the team on an interim basis, and co-owners Bolli and Bedard Egbaly said the ex-Chelsea midfielder was brought in to allow the club to undertake a “thorough and exhaustive process” to hire a permanent manager. manager.
Chelsea have lost eight of 11 games under Lampard and sit bottom in the bottom half of the table after exiting the quarter-finals of the Champions League and are out of Europe next season.
Since leaving Spurs in 2019, Pochettino has been linked with some of the biggest clubs in European football, including Manchester United and Real Madrid.
He once won the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain, but left last year and has been out of work since then.
Pochettino has emerged as a favorite for the Chelsea job after the club held talks with former Spain coach Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann, who was sacked by Bayern Munich in March.
Pochettino verbally agreed to manage Chelsea in April, but the appointment was put on hold until the end of the season.
With the Blues wrapping up their lackluster Premier League campaign with a draw with Newcastle on Sunday, Pochettino flew to England to formalize the deal.
“Mauricio’s experience, standard of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we go forward,” Chelsea’s joint sporting directors Lawrence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement .
“He is a successful coach who has worked at the highest level in multiple leagues and languages. His spirit, tactical approach and commitment to development all make him an outstanding candidate.”
