Next Chelsea manager: Kieran McKenna latest, Enzo Maresca update and a new name enters the field
Chelsea are stepping up their search for a new manager and have been in contact with representatives of the highly-rated Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna. LondonWorld sources have said Chelsea have been in contact with McKenna’s representatives and are keen to break through even though other managers are still being looked at in what is said to be a thorough search for the new coach.
The 38-year-old is also on the list of Brighton and Manchester United where he was the assistant manager to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before his back-to-back promotion stint with The Tractor Boys.
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Hide AdSources have said McKenna is carefully looking at the options and is not desperate to sign the new contract that Ipswich have offered him that could see him quadruple his £1.2million-a-year wages.
Other managers like Sebastian Hoeness and Enzo Maresca are all understood to be on the Blues' shortlist to replace Pochettino.
Hoeness, who led VfB Stuttgart to a runners-up finish in the Bundesliga in the 2023/24 season, is hugely admired by some board members at Chelsea for his style of play and personality. Maresca has also flown high up the list in the last 24 hours.
Pochettino left when the team was just peaking
The 52-year-old Argetinian’s departure has surprised many at the club including the players who found out in their WhatsApp group. A number of them were upset given they were just beginning to play well and had won five of their last five games to finish sixth in the league.
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Hide AdThey secured European football and Pochettino who is the longest-serving Chelsea manager under the American ownership was supposed to build on the gains of this season before the news of his departure was confirmed.
Often managers who lose five games on the bounce in the Premier League lose their jobs, but it's rare to see a manager who has won five of his last five games shown the exit door.
The last few days at Chelsea
19/05-Chelsea beat Bournemouth to ensure they would finish sixth on the last day of the Premier League season.
19/05- Thiago Silva said his goodbye after the final game of the season.
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Hide Ad19/05- Mauricio Pochettino hints at staying by saying he had dinner with Todd Boehly and everything was fine.
21/05- Tuesday evening news break that Pochettino has left the club.
22/05- Kieran McKenna, Sebastian Hoeneß and Enzo Maresca, all linked to the Chelsea job.
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