According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea’s “priority” is to make a decision on Mauricio Pochettino’s future at the end of the season.
Pochettino is under increasing pressure as Chelsea are enduring a miserable season. On Saturday, they were held to a 2-2 draw at Brentford as Axel Disasi’s late goal earned the Blues a point.
This result leaves Chelsea 11th in the Premier League. They have a game in hand on fourth-placed Aston Villa but that won’t make much difference as they are currently 19 points adrift of Unai Emery’s team.
The former Tottenham boss is among the favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked but Romano believes his position will not be “assessed” until the summer.
“Chelsea’s position on Mauricio Pochettino remains the same. They want to see positive results, of course, so let’s see what happens in the coming games, but their priority has always been to wait until the end of the season,” Romano told Caught Offside.
“This remains the plan at Chelsea – they will assess the situation with the manager and then make a decision. The pressure is there because they want to see better results and something different altogether, but it’s important to say that their priority is to discuss Pochettino’s future at the end of the season.”
Regarding potential replacements for Pochettino, Sporting Lisbon boss Rubem Amorim – who is being linked with Liverpool – has been picked out by Romano as “a name to watch”.
“Still, it’s also important to say, with regards to managers, keep an eye on Ruben Amorim this summer. Many clubs, especially in England, are keeping a close eye on the work of Amorim with Sporting Lisbon for a long time,” Romano added.
“From what I understand, he has a release clause in his contract worth €30m. Let’s see what he will decide about his future at the end of the season, but there is a lot of appreciation from multiple clubs, and not just in England.
“Liverpool, for example, even though we know their priority is Xabi Alonso, it looks like it’s going to be Liverpool against Bayern and I’ll update you on that in the next few days, but Amorim is another manager appreciated by figures at Anfield.
“We’ll have to see what happens with the new structure at Liverpool, and keep an eye on what happens at Chelsea, but overall Amorim looks like a name to watch in the summer domino of managers.”
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Discussing potential transfers, Romano is still of the understanding that Chelsea’s “priority for the summer remains a central striker”.
“One final point on Chelsea – despite rumours, I’m not aware of any contacts or negotiations over Crysencio Summerville at Leeds. Chelsea’s priority for the summer remains a central striker, but let’s see who else they look at,” Romano said.
“There are really many clubs following and monitoring Crysencio in the Premier League and other leagues, so let’s see if Chelsea decide to join them, but I’m not aware of anything concrete on this at the moment.”
