It is understood by football.london that a deal for Mauricio Pochettino to become the new Chelsea manager has been agreed. The Argentine has been away from the Premier League for four years having left Tottenham Hotspur and endured a spell in Ligue 1 with PSG.
After a number of offers from numerous clubs, Pochettino has determined Chelsea to be the club of choice and he will become a familiar yet new adversary of London rivals Arsenal again. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has never faced Pochettino before having arrived in north London when Jose Mourinho was the Spurs manager.
Arsenal and Chelsea’s paths have diverged and inverted in the time since the former Southampton boss’ departure from England. The Blues have declined whilst Arsenal have shot up the table and pushed Manchester City for a title.
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In the wake of the agreement and as an announcement awaits, football.london take a look at three things we expect to happen to Arsenal with Pochettino returning. Ranging from transfers to rivalries, the impacts could be significant.
A rivalry rekindled
Having previously managed Spurs, there is an obvious rivalry that will again be rekindled as Pochettino returns to the Premier League. His record against Arsenal was not too bad, winning four and drawing seven of fifteen meetings meaning he only lost four times.
He’s seen to be the coach who oversaw the elevation of Tottenham above Arsenal as far as league standings were concerned and kicked off what would become a six-year run after he departed where the white half of north London finished above the red. That has now ended and Pochettino will instead be looking to get Chelsea above their old London rivals.
Better Chelsea coaching
Chelsea have had a terrible season and struggled with both Graham Potter and then interim coach Frank Lampard. Despite the huge amount of talent available, the Blues look without much idea and the unity in the squad appears fractured.
What Pochettino has always been, despite perhaps not being a serial trophy winner, is a very good coach. He improves players individually and maximised so much of what he had of the player available to him at Tottenham and helped turn the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min into the world-class players they are now.
At Chelsea, the resources are far greater to utilise in the market and the young talent in the existing group in the form of the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke to name but a few is overwhelming. Pochettino’s job will be to trim the squad and get the best of the group which few would back against him doing and therefore from an Arsenal perspective the challenge they face at Stamford Bridge or when hosting Chelsea will be expected to be much tougher.
Transfer impact
With the established coach of Pochettino perhaps Arsenal’s rivalry in the market will also be resumed. Tottenham had a habit of fighting with the Gunners for targets and happened to secure the likes of Victor Wanyama and Serge Aurier over their north London rivals.
With a much greater budget, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chelsea try and compete with Arsenal for the likes of Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and others. However Arsenal’s league position and Champions League status will hopefully still give them the edge.
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