Pochettino Names 5 Chelsea Players To Build Around As New Manager
As he approaches being named the team’s new manager, Mauricio Pochettino is rumored to want to build his squad around five specific Chelsea players.
According to the Daily Mirror, Pochettino recently met with Chelsea’s management and will be officially introduced as Frank Lampard’s replacement later this week. The former Tottenham manager will take over in the summer and make an effort to cut down Chelsea’s roster of over-30 players. However, Pochettino has identified five players that he intends to keep around and include in his team moving forward.
Pochettino thinks that a number of Chelsea’s defenders, including Benoit Badiashile, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, and Levi Colwill, who has flourished while on loan at Brighton this year, can develop into members of his team. Pochettino desires to “build from the back” and thinks Chelsea has a lot of defenders who are capable of doing so. After investing more than £600 million in players since acquiring Todd Boehly last year, Chelsea will concentrate on sales this summer.
N’Golo Kante’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and there have been questions raised about whether he will be given the lucrative, long-term deal he was demanding given the 32-year-old’s injury issues that have prevented him from making more than six Premier League starts this season.
According to The Telegraph, the 51-year-old’s relationship with the Frenchman Kante has developed into a sort of bromance. According to the article, the two get along well, and Pochettino even tried to sign the 32-year-old while in charge of PSG.