LONDON, England – After just 11 months in charge, 52-year-old Mauricio Pochettino departed his position as Chelsea’s manager by mutual consent, the Premier League team confirmed. Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place finish this season.

After just one season in command, Chelsea’s Mauricio Pochettino has resigned by mutual consent.

Despite a season marked by many setbacks, Pochettino guided a young Blues team to the FA Cup semi finals and the Carabao Cup final. With a sixth-place finish, he also secured European football for the team.

Chelsea finished 12th in the previous season.

Tuesday’s announcement said, “Chelsea FC can confirm that the club and Mauricio Pochettino have mutually agreed to part ways.”

Pochettino stated: “Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history. The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

Sebastiano Pochettino, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez, and Jesus Perez, the assistant coach, also leave.

After a drawn-out hiring procedure, the 52-year-old Argentinian was finally appointed last May, after just 11 months on the job. He took over for interim manager Frank Lampard, who had been brought in after Graham Potter was fired in April 2023.

In addition to spending almost £400 million on new players, many of whom were under 25, Chelsea also sold players for about £250 million throughout the summer, with key players like Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, and Cesar Azpilicueta departing.

Following negotiations on Monday, it was decided jointly that Pochettino would stand down. Pochettino had expressed uncertainty about Chelsea’s planned end-of-season assessment after the team’s victory against Bournemouth on Sunday.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season on behalf of everyone at Chelsea,” stated Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, the club’s sports directors.

“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”

Pochettino has led Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019 and earlier won Ligue 1 during an 18-month tenure with Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino has also managed Tottenham for more than five years.

The list of potential successors includes Brentford manager Thomas Frank, Girona head coach Michel, Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, Leicester’s Enzo Maresca, and Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna.

For the second year in a row, Pochettino will captain the World XI at Soccer Aid in early June. Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge will host the charitable event.