‘I know my place’ – Mauricio Pochettino plays down influence in Chelsea transfers

Mauricio Pochettino suggested he does not have a huge say in Chelsea transfers and contract negotiations as his ‘place’ at the club is as head coach.

Chelsea have spent over £1bn on transfers since BlueCo’s takeover of the club in 2022, but this has coincided with a rapid plunge down the Premier League standings – the Blues finished 12th last season and currently sit 11th in this year’s standings. During Sunday’s defeat to a depleted Liverpool side in the Carabao Cup final, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville labelled Chelsea as ‘billion-pound bottlejobs’.

Midfield duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were both signed for nine-figure sums but have failed to live up to expectation so far, while the club’s £89m deal to bring in Mykhailo Mudryk has also been regularly questioned.

One of Chelsea’s more dependable players this season has been academy product Conor Gallagher, whose contract expires in 2025 and could be sold this summer if a new deal is not agreed.

At a press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford, Pochettino was asked whether he could have any influence in contract negotiations.

“I am the coach, that needs to be my place,” Pochettino said. “I cannot be involved in this. It’s only between the club and Conor that can make the deal…I know my place.”

When asked why he was so reluctant to give a more definitive answer on the situation, Pochettino replied: “Because there is nothing to win for me. What am I going to say? I am the head coach.

“My job is to coach the team and to pick the decisions for tomorrow, for the starting XI and squad, and try to improve the players and try to win games. That is my job.

“We have a very good relationship with the owners and sporting directors. My office is always open, and we have a very good relationship and dialogue. We are open to help in the way they think or believe we can help.”

In his final summer as Tottenham boss, Pochettino said the club should look to change his job title from manager back to head coach due to his waning influence on transfers. Spurs infamously went 18 months without a signing from 2018 to 2019 before bringing in only four players – Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke – in the final window prior to sacking Pochettino.