Mauricio Pochettino has been dealt a huge blow to his hopes of winning the Premier League with Chelsea next season, according to Cesc Fabregas' theory. The former Tottenham boss has been heavily linked with the head coach vacancy at Stamford Bridge recently, and he now looks set to be appointed.
football.london understands that the Blues have agreed a deal to make Pochettino the club's new manager. After weeks of positive talks, Pochettino is set to takeover from Frank Lampard at the end of the season.
It's said that the 51-year-old is yet to put pen to paper on a contract but he's expected to do so soon. Pochettino will have a full pre-season to get his feet under the table and begin planning for next term, though his arrival could still be too late.
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In April 2016, Antonio Conte was named Chelsea manager and, ahead of his official arrival, he held one-to-one meetings with the players to discuss his plans for the following season. Speaking on Sky Sports earlier this month, Fabregas revealed how the Italian's early appointment spurred the Blues on to win the Premier League.
With just under two weeks left of May, Fabregas has suggested that Boehly is behind schedule. The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder said: "Let’s not forget something, six years ago we had a really bad season with Chelsea, we finished 10th, if I remember correctly.
"Jose Mourinho left, [Guus] Hiddink came, he started to play younger players - [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, [Andreas] Christiansen, Tammy Abraham - to give them experience for the next year.
"I remember in April they signed [Antonio] Conte, who came to the training ground, spoke to us individually, planned what he wanted to do with us to start afresh and next season we won the Premier League. Against [Pep] Guardiola, against [Jurgen] Klopp, against Mourinho at Manchester United. It’s not impossible.
"I know you’ll tell me there’s a lot of new players, it’s difficult, but this happened six years ago and I was there - I lived it. If you bring someone in with experience, with the character, who can put everyone together, who can give clear ideas of what he wants to do and works hard to bring everyone on board, it is doable."
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