Todd Boehly decision means Chelsea will avoid FFP nightmare with Mauricio Pochettino sacking

A fair few questions are rightly being raised about Mauricio Pochettino’s progress at Chelsea. Tuesday’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal following Saturday’s narrow FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City was a damning indictment of the inconsistent season the club has endured this season.

In his post-match press conference, Pochettino alarmingly stated that he felt his players “gave up “ toward the end of the match, but later clarified that he wasn’t questioning the character of his squad but was pointing to the game being lost within the hour.

Some believe Todd Bohely is sharpening his axe ahead of a decision on Pochettino’s future at the end of the campaign. It’s worth highlighting the overall picture.

The Blues already have three more points than they finished on last season with six games to go and could well finish within the top seven, amid some reports claiming that a failure to do so will cost him his job.

Chelsea have also reached Wembley twice, failing to show mettle in the extra time loss to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final and being unfortunate to succumb to Man City last weekend. The mass influx of players over the summer meant it took time for Pochettino to determine his most reliable assets, and continual spates of injury have not helped.

Meanwhile, Chelsea could be heading toward a possible points deduction if they are determined not to have met the Premier League’s finance rules within the current cycle. Any compensation owed to a manager upon sacking contributes to Financial Fair Play expenditure, meaning axing Pochettino would not be devoid of ramifications.

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Unlike with Thomas Tuchel - whose deal was meant to run out this summer - and Graham Potter, who was handed a five-year, £50m contract in 2022, Pochettino was only handed a two-year agreement.

He has the option for third if wanted but only if all parties agree. It means the cost of dismissing the Argentine would be considerably lighter than the exits of his predecessors were. It is reported Chelsea would have to fork out £10m to get rid of Pochettino.

This is not a massive figure for an elite manager but it would certainly take a chunk out of the transfer budget and financial scope for his replacement. However, it could be worse.

Erik ten Hag’s dismissal is rumoured to cost £15m if he is indeed shown the door by Manchester United while Tuchel’s initial departure had cost £13m.

Boehly will need to think carefully about his next steps in light of FFP but a sack decision would not be as expensive thanks to setting up a short-term deal for Pochettino.