Chelsea CIVIL WAR: Boehly wanted to keep Pochettino

Cameron Smith

• 8 Sept 2024 16:30 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly reportedly backed Mauricio Pochettino, but co-owner Behdad Eghbali decided to part ways with the Argentine despite an encouraging end to last season.

Pochettino guided Chelsea to five consecutive wins to end the Premier League campaign, however he left the club by mutual consent and Enzo Maresca was quickly named as his successor.

The former Tottenham Hotspur boss is now expected to take charge of the USMNT after being linked with the Manchester United job following his Chelsea departure.

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However, recent reports suggest that Boehly wanted to keep Pochettino in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Despite this, he was outvoted by Clearlake Capital chief Eghbali, who holds a 61.5% majority stake at Chelsea with business partner and fellow co-owner Jose E Feliciano.

Since Boehly stepped down as Sporting Director in 2023, Eghbali has been the man in charge at Chelsea and the 48-year-old pushed the club to part ways with Pochettino, as per The Telegraph and Ben Jacobs.

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Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea

Pochettino lasted just 11 months at Chelsea and the Argentine could easily have been sacked at multiple points during the season - including after the 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg defeat to Middlesbrough and the humiliating 5-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates.

However, he managed to guide the Blues to five successive Premier League wins to end the season and ensure qualification for the Europa Conference League.

In addition, he extracted the very best out of Cole Palmer, and helped the development of Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Marc Cucurella.

Despite this, Eghabli opted to cut ties with Pochettino and Maresca was selected as his replacement following a sublime debut campaign in charge of Leicester City.

Chelsea have picked up four points from their opening three league matches under Maresca, courtesy of a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, a draw against Crystal Palace and a defeat to Manchester City.