Chelsea to battle Man Utd for Pochettino after Abramovich text message

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2019 by Express.co.uk

Chelsea to battle Man Utd for Pochettino after Abramovich text message
Abramovich has pinpointed Pochettino as a future managerial target (Image: GETTY )

CHELSEA could join the race Manchester United and Real Madrid into tempting Mauricio Pochettino into quitting Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is already under pressure after only a season at Stamford Bridge following an alarming dip in form.

And he has had text messages from Roman Abramovich to explain the dip and could be sacked if he doesn’t deliver Champions League football.

That will mean they start the search for another manager and they were interested in Mauricio Pochettino last summer before opting for Sarri who got his side off to a good start.

Abramovich can expect to run into strong opposition from Daniel Levy with the Argentine still having four years left to run on the contract he signed last May.

It could cost him upwards of £50 million in compensation and even then it might not be enough to get his man if Levy decides to dig his heals in.

Manchester United, though, are also in the race Pochetinno’s signature, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s start to life at the club could scupper those plans.

Solskjaer won his first eight games in charge of United before drawing his ninth with Burnley 2-2 earlier this week.

The Norwegian’s early wins, though, included the likes of Arsenal and Pochettino’s Spurs.

Pochettino was said to be keen on the job at Old Trafford, but will have to focus on Spurs after they dropped out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup last week.

Sarri dropped out of the top four earlier this week when his side were thrashed 4-0 by Bournemouth on the south coast.

But a 5-0 win at home to Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon propelled them back into the Champions League places.

New signing Gonzalo Higuain scored his first goals of the season, while Eden Hazard also notched a brace for the Blues.

“Today is all positive, we played a full 90 minutes, defended very well, so it was a very good match but we need consistency now, we have to continue to play with the same mentality in all the matches,” Sarri said after the game.

“I hope in the future we will not need a lost match to find the right mentality.”