Next Chelsea manager: Who is the favourite to replace Mauricio Pochettino?

James Shearman

• Updated: 23 May 2024 13:11 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea are in pursuit of a new manager after Mauricio Pochettino exited the club on Tuesday.

Pochettino guided The Blues' young team to sixth place in the Premier League so it came as a surprise to see him leave.

Many thought that he could build on the improvements made in recent weeks and potentially finish in the Champions League places next season.

However, it seems that Chelsea's owners were more focused on the underwhelming majority of the season than the impressive end.

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that the board were not willing to deviate from their transfer plan of selling homegrown players to fund new signings in order to appease the Argentine.

The west London club have been linked with several young managers in the wake of Pochettino's departure - most of which would be controversial to say the least.

Who is the favourite to take over from Mauricio Pochettino?

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna is the current bookies' favourite (4/5) to replace Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

McKenna followed up his side's promotion to the Championship in the 2022-23 campaign with a second consecutive promotion to the Premier League this season.

The former Manchester United coach, under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is probably the most exciting young coach in English football, but the leap from Ipswich to Chelsea would be an enormous one.

The second favourite for the Chelsea job is Leicester City's Enzo Maresca (3/1), who recently won the Championship title.

The Spaniard previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, managing the Elite Development Squad.

Meanwhile, ex-Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi (7/2) has also been heavily linked.

The Italian left The Seagulls last week after a reported disagreement with owner Tony Bloom over the direction of the club.

The likes of Sporting's Ruben Amorim (12/1), Brentford's Thomas Frank (14/1) and Girona's Michel (16/1) remain outsiders at this stage.