Mauricio Pochettino on verge of becoming new Chelsea manager

Mauricio Pochettino is in final negotiations with Chelsea to become the club’s permanent head coach with the Argentine set to be followed into Stamford Bridge with his four-man brains trust.

Chelsea and Pochettino are hoping for a swift agreement over the terms of his appointment with both sides positive over the direction in which talks have travelled over the past week.

Barring any late hitches, Pochettino is expected to be appointed the permanent successor to Graham Potter and will be allowed to bring at least four of his most trusted allies with him.

Pochettino is expected to be joined at Chelsea by his highly respected assistant manager and head of conditioning Jesus Perez, first-team coach Miguel D’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez and son Sebastiano, a sports scientist.

Three of the foursome, Perez, D’Agostino and Jimenez, have worked with Pochettino throughout his coaching career at Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain, while Sebastiano was with him at Spurs and in France.

Perez is particularly influential in Pochettino’s set-up and will work closely with Chelsea’s medical department to make sure the squad are in the best possible physical condition.

Caretaker manager Frank Lampard has questioned the fitness levels of some of Chelsea’s players and the impressive running distances of Pochettino’s teams has been a feature of his work at all of his clubs.

Chelsea are yet to confirm the status of Potter’s old coaching staff who stayed behind after his sacking, but Bruno Saltor and Bjorn Hamberg are expected to leave, while the expected arrival of Jimenez could see goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts go.

Billy Reid left with Potter, while Anthony Barry officially joined Bayern Munich last week which means there should be plenty of space for Pochettino to bring in his own staff. It remains to be seen whether or not there is a long-term future at Chelsea for Kyle Macaulay, who arrived at the club as a recruitment specialist with Potter.

Explaining the relationship between Pochettino and his staff, Perez once said: “He (Pochettino) is very close with us. He's a very uncommon manager, because I've had experience with other ones and they've been different.

“If he discusses a new contract then first it's our contract and then afterwards his contract. Things like that mean so much. He never puts himself first.”

As revealed by Telegraph Sport, Chelsea players are excited by the prospect of Pochettino taking charge and the 51-year-old is thought to have been impressed by what he has heard from co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali so far.

Chelsea’s process to appoint a new head coach has been led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, but it is believed Boehly and Eghbali have now become involved in final negotiations over hiring Pochettino.