Poch targets the three amigos for new Blues band
MAURICIO PLOTS THE WAY BACK
MAURICIO POCHETTINO is happy to back his manmanagement skills over Todd Boehly’s cheque book.
Pochettino’s stance will give the Chelsea owner the 12 months he needs to sort out the mess of his first year in charge.
The former Tottenham manager is spending his last few days on holiday before taking up the reins a week today, in line with the terms of his Paris Saint-Germain exit.
But providing the Chelsea board can continue to clear the decks of their surplus of players – due to the new regime’s misguided £650million splurge – Pochettino is satisfied with a trio of new buys to restore the club to the upper echelons.
France forward Christopher Nkunku’s arrival was tied up back in December, and the deal was a central part of the talks when the Argentinian agreed to take the job.
Although Nkunku, 25, has played as a central striker, Pochettino would rather use him alongside a more traditional No. 9.
Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan remains the favoured candidate for that role and is keen to team up with his Argentinian compatriot.
Martinez’s £60m fee would be covered by the sale of Kai Havertz to Arsenal, while making Romelu Lukaku’s loan move to Inter a permanent one could play a part in the deal.
After Chelsea managed just 38 goals in as many Premier League games last season, Pochettino is reluctant to commit the scoring duties to just one player.
Villarreal’s Nicolas Jackson was rejected by Bournemouth in January because he was injured at the time.
The Senegal forward returned to action in March and scored 10 times in his final 11 La Liga matches. His arrival at Chelsea rests on sorting out an appropriate schedule of payments on his £30m transfer. Such is the bloated nature of Chelsea’s squad, the club have had to sell pretty much anybody they get an offer for.
N’Golo Kante is somebody Pochettino could have found room for, so his lucrative move to Al-Ittihad has left a hole to be filled, with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo the primary target.
At around £80m, the Ecuador midfielder would be Pochettino’s big-ticket item, with the 51-year-old backing his ability to bring the best out of the players already at his disposal to do the rest.
His early success atTottenham was built on the energy of full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose.
In that department at Stamford Bridge he is just as blessed, if he can keep Ben Chilwell and Reece James fit.
Raheem Sterling does not turn 29 until December and he would be a test case of Pochettino’s ability to rebuild confidence.
His own no-nonsense approach at the back could add some steel by turning some of his footballing centre-halves into proper defenders.
At Tottenham, in his first summer, Pochettino effectively signed only Ben Davies and Eric Dier.
It was only during the course of the following campaign that Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-Min Son became the cornerstone of the 2019 Champions League final team.
Pochettino has shown he has the patience – but do Chelsea?