Mauricio Pochettino signs two-year deal to become new Chelsea manager

Former Spurs boss will take over from Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge on July 1

Mauricio Pochettino, who has been out of work since leaving Paris St Germain, has agreed to take over as Chelsea manager. Reuters

Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the next Chelsea manager, signing a two-year deal with the option to extend for a further year.

The Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain boss is expected to take the reins at Stamford Bridge on July 1, replacing interim manager Frank Lampard.

The 51-year-old has been out of work since he parted company with PSG at the end of last season.

It is believed he had made a verbal agreement last month to take over at Chelsea before flying from Spain to London to put pen to paper on a contract on Sunday.

The negotiations are believed to have been led by the club's co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

They said in a statement on Monday: “Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward.

“He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”

Chelsea's season has been a disaster, with the club finishing 12th in the table despite spending more than £600 million on players since new owner Todd Boehly and his consortium bought the club for £4.25 billion from Roman Abramovich in May last year.

The club were knocked out of this season's League Cup in the third round after losing to Manchester City and were dumped out of the FA Cup at the same stage after a 4-0 thrashing by Pep Guardiola's side.

Chelsea 2022/23 season ratings

The board sacked Thomas Tuchel, who won them the Champions League in 2021, in September and replaced him with Brighton manager Graham Potter.

Potter, who lasted just seven months and 31 games in the job, was sacked on April 3, shortly before Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid. They lost 4-0 on aggregate to the Spanish giants.

Bruno Saltor came in for one game before Lampard was appointed as interim boss on April 6. The former Chelsea midfielder lost his first six games in charge before finally overseeing a victory against Bournemouth on May 6.

Asked about Chelsea's future under a new manager after their 4-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last week, Lampard said: “I wish the new manager well. It’s his problem, I guess."

Pochettino, who spent five seasons at Tottenham, guiding them to the 2019 Champions League final, and a season and a half at Southampton, will spend the summer with the Chelsea squad to determine which players he wants to keep on board.

The club is due to play five games in their pre-season tour of the US in July and August, including clashes against Wrexham, Brighton, Newcastle United, Fulham and Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund,