Chelsea are preparing to announce the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as their new permanent manager with contracts now signed.
The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain head coach has put pen to paper on a three-year contract to become Graham Potter’s successor, following Frank Lampard’s caretaker spell in charge.
Official confirmation is now imminent, though not unexpected to come before Chelsea’s final game of the season today against Newcastle as Lampard, and a number of players, prepare to say goodbye. An announcement is likely to come within 48 hours.
This afternoon, Lampard’s caretaker stint comes to a close as he looks for just his second win from 11 games. The match could also see Mason Mount, Edouard Mendy, Mateo Kovacic, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and others wave farewell for the final time during the traditional end-of-season lap of honour.
One of Pochettino’s first tasks will be to trim the squad, which has bloated to 32 players after the world record spend of £600million across the last two transfer windows.
Pochettino will still be able to buy fresh faces, though, with a striker and a goalkeeper top of his list.
