Pochettino: Chelsea exit was my decision after disagreement with owners

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that his exit from Chelsea was his own decision following a personal disagreement with the club’s owners.

It is almost two years sincePochettino departed Stamford Bridge by mutual consent, despite leading the club back into Europe as well as the EFL Cup final in 2023-24.

The Argentine, who is now preparing for the World Cup with the United States national team, took charge of 51 matches in all competitions, winning 27(D10L14).

Since his exit, Chelsea’s ownersBlueCo have appointed Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, though both have since been sacked with the Blues eighth in the Premier League this season.

During his time in charge, it was reported thatPochettino had clashed over strategy and squad management with Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, the two sporting directors andrecruitmentspecialists backed by the owners to oversee the club’s new structure.

He had also seen his request for adding experienced leaders to a young squad turned down, and opposed the plan for selling academy graduates Trevoh Chalobah, who is still at the club, and Conor Gallagher in the summer of 2024.

"What I understood didn’t happen after. Maybe I was wrong,"Pochettino told The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.

"When we arrived, we needed to understand, the team was 12th in the Premier League.

"We didn’t play in Europe – no Conference League, no Europa League, no Champions League. It was in the process of all the changes from one ownership to another.

"[There are] things that you need to put in place, things to prioritise.I’m not complaining because the decision was my decision to leave the club."

Pochettino’s successor, Marseca, guided the club to the Conference League and Club World Cup titles, but also left in January this year after tensions with the club’s hierarchy.

But Pochettino stated that the club were heading in the right direction under his stewardship, and it is believed thatTodd Boehlywas in favour of keeping him.

However, co-owner Behdad Eghbali was not as impressed, with it later revealed that Chelsearegarded Pochettino as too old-school a head coach for their project.

"Why I think I am disappointed with internal things is, under our assessment and our vision, it was a normal process to create something solid for the future," Pochettino added.

"We finished sixth, winning the last five or six games. We arrived at the final of the EFL Cup, and we played in the semi-final of the FA Cup against Manchester City.

"In both games we deserved to go through – to win the final and to go through – but because of experience of different things, we didn’t win. But we were in a very good way.

"But when things didn’t match what was our vision, we said it’s better to split; it’s better to give the possibility to the club to do what they want."