Mauricio Pochettino reportedly agrees deal to become new Chelsea manager

Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to take over as the new manager of Chelsea, according to reports.

The Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain manager has agreed terms with the Stamford Bridge club after lengthy negotiations, according to media sources on Sunday.

The 51-year-old will join the club this summer at the end of the Premier League season, taking the reins from interim manager Frank Lampard.

Pochettino, who also manager Southampton, has been out of a job since last summer when PSG brought Christophe Galtier in to replace him.

He will become Chelsea's sixth permanent manager in five years. The club, who sit 11th in the Premier League table, were taken over by American Ted Boehly's consortium for £4.25 billion in May last year.

Since their takeover, they have sacked Thomas Tuchel in September and his replacement Graham Potter last month just seven months into his five-year contract.

Chelsea have had a difficult season as they lie in mid-table in the Premier League and were knocked out of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in the third round, despite spending around €600m in the past two transfer windows.

They also lost to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Lampard, who previously managed the club from 2019-21, was brought in as caretaker manager after Potter's dismissal but the team’s struggles have continued.

Pochettino led Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019 before being sacked later that year. He took over at PSG in January 2021, winning the French Super Cup, the Coupe de France and the Ligue 1 during his tenure before he was sacked last summer.