Chelsea leaning towards Pochettino but Postecoglou makes manager shortlist

Ange Postecoglou is a surprise inclusion on the shortlist of candidates to become Chelsea’s next head coach, though the club are leaning towards offering the job to Mauricio Pochettino.

Postecoglou is on course to win a second consecutive Scottish Premiership title with Celtic and has built a reputation as an attacking coach who can improve players on the training ground. The Australian joined Celtic in 2021 and led them to the title last season. His team are currently 12 points clear of Rangers with 32 games played and have won consecutive League Cups under his management.

The 57-year-old has also managed Celtic in the Champions League, where this season they were drawn in a group with Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig and impressed with their brave style of play despite finishing fourth.

But Postecoglou, who took Australia to the 2018 World Cup, is an outsider in the race. He has managed clubs in Greece, Australia and Japan but has no experience of working in one of Europe’s big leagues.

Chelsea have been conducting a wide-ranging search since firing Graham Potter at the start of April. Their preferred shortlist was cut down when the recently sacked Bayern Munich manager, Julian Nagelsmann, pulled out of the race. Pochettino and Vincent Kompany, the Burnley manager, are the other two options. Chelsea have also considered Feyernoord’s Arne Slot.

Nagelsmann’s withdrawal, which was because he had concerns about Chelsea’s project, has left Pochettino as the frontrunner. Chelsea have appointed Frank Lampard as interim but say there is no clear favourite, and sources claim the club had its own reservations about Nagelsmann’s personality and tactics.

Pochettino has held multiple talks with Chelsea over the past