Chelsea have agreed terms to make former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino their new manager.
He will join the club this summer, with Frank Lampard remaining as interim manager until the end of the season.
Pochettino, who also managed Southampton, has been out of work since Paris St-Germain replaced him with Christophe Galtier in the summer of 2022.
The 51-year-old Argentinian managed Spurs for five years from 2014 and led them to the 2019 Champions League final.
Pochettino will be Chelsea’s sixth permanent manager in five years, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter earlier this season.
Lampard took charge of the Blues on an interim basis in early April after Potter was sacked.
Chelsea had a difficult season, losing to Manchester City in the FA Cup and League Cup third round.
They also lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals which ended any viable hope of qualifying for Europe next season.
They are currently 11th in the Premier League, having won just one of their last 11 games, losing eight.
Pochettino had been linked with a return to Tottenham after parting ways with Antonio Conte in March.
He guided Spurs to the League Cup final in 2015 and a Premier League runners-up spot in 2016-17, with his side missing out on both wins against Chelsea.
After his spell at Tottenham, Pochettino took over from Tuchel at PSG in January 2021.
The French club finished second in Ligue 1 at the end of the 2021-22 campaign but won the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions, which were the first trophies of Pochettino’s coaching career.
Pochettino started his managerial career with Espanyol before his 16-month spell at Southampton.
Pochettino wants a team fans can ‘fall in love’ with – Balague
In April, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Football Focus that the Argentine was approached in September as a possible replacement for Tuchel but turned down the club before appointing Potter.
“It was another time when I think Chelsea made a decision on Potter, and Pochettino felt that,” Balague said.
“Now it looks like the club is ready for him. Before, the fans missed Tuchel, who won them in the Champions League the year before.
“But the fans and the club want him to happen.”
Balague believes Pochettino wants to produce a team that Chelsea fans can ‘fall in love’ with.
“He wants a team that is pressing, that is aggressive – he wants players who know they have to fight to get into the starting XI,” Balague added.
“Obviously he’s going to have to reduce the squad and the players who remain will have to fight for their place and know that nothing is guaranteed.”
