Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea with reputation enhanced as Manchester United mull over manager change

There were times during the season when Mauricio Pochettino appeared certain to be the next manager to be chewed up and spat out by Chelsea.

For most of the campaign, Chelsea's form was rocky at best, a step forward almost always followed by a setback, and there were some grim lows for the Argentine and his players.

The 4-2 home defeat by Wolves in February, when Chelsea fans jeered their manager, was particularly chastening, while the League Cup loss against a youthful and depleted Liverpool was an embarrassment.

Somewhat remarkably, however, Pochettino walks away from Chelsea with his reputation intact, maybe even enhanced, after a year in west London.

A run of five straight wins to finish the campaign clinched sixth place and European football next term, demonstrating conclusively that Pochettino's tactics were starting to have a positive impact on Chelsea's callow squad.

Pochettino can point out that he inherited a basket case of a club, riddled with dysfunction on the back of 12th-place finish last season — and he managed to turn the ship around.

He can take an enormous share of the credit for the emergence of Cole Palmer and the continued development of Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, Malo Gusto and others.

There was a feeling Chelsea were one or two experienced signings away from being a real force again, and there will be sighs of relief at rival clubs that the Blues' hierarchy have blown up another project, just when it was starting to come together.

If Chelsea sell Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, two of their outstanding performers in the run-in, Pochettino will be further vindicated. How could he have hoped to build a successful team when the owners are determined to sell off key players, who, as academy graduates, are the strongest links with the fanbase?

Pochettino has never been above playing politics, but he leaves Chelsea looking like the wronged party, an ambitious coach who simply could not operate in such a chaotic environment.

There were points this season when Pochettino appeared to be moving further away from ever getting another top job, but his exit has now shaken up the elite manager's market.

Manchester United will surely be mulling over him as a replacement for Erik ten Hag, particularly as he is well-regarded by the club's co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Bayern Munich and Juventus will be among the other European giants eyeing Pochettino.

It is unlikely now, though, Pochettino will return to Spurs, as he was once so certain he would, and one of the consequences of his strange Chelsea stint is the decimation of his reputation at his former club — and for what, really?

Pochettino may have walked out of Chelsea unscathed, but his career has flatlined since leaving north London after two strange picks in Paris Saint-Germain and the Blues, both clubs coloured by chaos and pursuing different extremes. PSG were obsessed by ageing galacticos and Chelsea with signing talented but inexperienced young players.

Rather than a dysfunctional super-club, there is a case for Pochettino to find a stable but ambitious new project and it is easy to wonder if he regrets turning down Aston Villa in 2022.

His career seemed to enter periods of drift after leaving Spurs and PSG, perhaps contributing to his odd moves, and the timing of his next job also feels significant. Pochettino will want to strike while memories of Chelsea's fine end of the season are still fresh, but without rushing into more chaos.