Chelsea to hire important Brentford man that Pochettino doesn’t want

Mauricio Pochettino seemingly has one of the hardest jobs in football at the moment; keeping Chelsea owner Todd Boehly happy.

Positive results are required of course, however, when the owners are dictating what needs to be going on during training and behind the scenes, then there’s clearly going to be a problem in the longer term.

Chelsea transfer news: Pochettino unhappy about free-kick specialist hire

According to The Telegraph (subscription required), Brentford’s set-piece expert, Bernardo Cueva, will be joining the club for the start of the 2024/25 season.

The report suggests that Pochettino isn’t necessarily a fan of the hire, given that he has previously noted that he doesn’t need – or perhaps want – set-piece specialists to supplement the backroom staff that he already has in-situ.

The Blues can still win the FA Cup and make it into Europe via their league placing, though neither is guaranteed.

As Chelsea have underwhelmed for much of the campaign, there’s a reasonable argument to suggest Boehly’s hire of Cueva could be the first hint that, in fact, the American is planning to dispense with the services of the manager at the end of the current campaign.

Were there plans afoot for Pochettino to be given one further season to get things right, then it’s clear from what’s happened this week who is actually pulling the strings in the first team.