Mauricio Pochettino drops Chelsea sack hint before Brighton with huge future admission

Mauricio Pochettin has revealed he is preparing to be in charge of the club next season despite not yet knowing whether the club will decide to part ways with him. Chelsea's decision-makers will hold an assessment of Pochettino's first year in charge after the final Premier League fixture next week.

With European football now well within sight, Pochettino is close to recovering what had been a largely turbulent season for the Blues, but it is not certain to be enough for him to be in the dugout next season. Only last week he went as far as to say that the coaching team themselves could walk away if they weren't happy.

"We are planning, we are working," he said when quizzed on the latest on his future. "We cannot take some comment from my side to put in a negative way because I always try to be positive and being positive, trying to translate my feelings to you or the people, I never say and I am not thinking in the future.

"It's already planned. The plan is there to start pre-season, the date, how we are going to start. It's not in my hands to be here or not to be here."

Before the meeting with Forest on Saturday he had raised the prospect of walking away from the club just one year into his contract. "The most important thing is to keep going, working if we are all happy, not only the owners happy with us, or the sporting directors with us, or us, with all the organisation that the club is building here because of them we are all under assessment," he said.

"If we are happy, perfect. But it is not only if the owners are happy or the sporting directors are happy. If we are happy, you need to ask us, also, because maybe we are not happy and we accept the situation and then we are not happy and we need to split."

READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino discovers route to Chelsea success amid one-word Reece James admission

READ MORE: Moises Caicedo can dispel Chelsea transfer criticism with Brighton display to cement reputation

However, with the chance to secure seventh place with a victory over Brighton on Wednesday night, Pochettino demonstrated his intentions to remain in place. "We have players that are growing, improving, getting more mature, living their first experience in the Premier League," he said.

"I want to be honest with you and the fans. The history of Chelsea is impossible today. With time, we will match. That's my wish." He also reiterated the importance of qualifying for Europe next season in order to continue the development of his squad.

"Football is about results. Sometimes the results arrive because of things you can't explain. The next two games are really important to finish well for the possibility of Europe and to start next season with a [positive] feeling."

He finished: "I think the fans are seeing what we are doing. But it's difficult. We are doing a fantastic job, a fantastic job. When the situation start really bad, to keep calm, to keep pushing and working and believing. I am so excited for the future."