Chelsea target potential Man Utd manager as Pochettino faces ‘crucial days’

Robin Bairner

• 20 May 2024 09:18 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea have identified Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna as a potential candidate to take over from Mauricio Pochettino in the summer, according to a report.

McKenna finds his stock high going into the summer after leading Ipswich to unlikely back-to-back promotions as they return to the Premier League. Manchester United, where he was once an assistant coach to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, have been monitoring him as a potential candidate to replace Erik ten Hag.

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The Guardian reports that Chelsea are also following the fortunes of the 38-year-old.

Perhaps more realistically, Brighton are following him as a possible replacement for Roberto De Zerbi, who has announced that he is leaving the Seagulls.

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Crucial days for Pochettino – Romano

The possibility of the Chelsea or Man Utd job should not be written off, particularly with Fabrizio Romano indicating that Pochettino’s job at Stamford Bridge is still not safe, despite guiding the Blues back to Europe.

Romano warns over “crucial days” ahead for the Argentine.

“Talks over Pochettino’s future will take place very soon, now we enter into crucial days, so let’s see how these discussions will progress,” he writes for the Daily Briefing.

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“In my personal opinion, Pochettino deserves one more season as Chelsea manager as he finished really well and also the players respect him a lot. It was not an exciting season for Chelsea but still important to remember it was the first one with a new coach and many new players.”

Indeed, Chelsea’s strong conclusion to the campaign has quelled sack talk surrounding Pochettino, and despite the links to McKenna, it would be very surprising if the Argentine was to find himself out of a job imminently.

Pochettino is under contract with the Blues until 2025 but the club hold the option to add an additional year to this.