Before we get to the incredulity shared by the Chelsea squad, it is worth mentioning the risible statistic that was attracting attention among their representatives on Wednesday.
Forwarded by one to Mail Sport, it was a screenshot being shared of a tweet going viral by the journalist Will Jeanes which read: 'The next Chelsea manager will be the club's 24th (including caretakers) from 2000 onwards – which is more than the number of Popes there have been since 1722.'
Mauricio Pochettino's successor will be the current owners' sixth head coach – fourth permanent – since taking over from Roman Abramovich in May 2022, the two-year anniversary of which is a week today. 'Jesus,' added the agent who sent on that statistic, pun intended presumably. 'You can only laugh.'
Chelsea players are not laughing, however, with one source close to the squad claiming Pochettino's premature departure 'ruined' the feel-good factor they had upon leaving Stamford Bridge after their final game of the season, a 2-1 win over Bournemouth which secured European qualification.
They were aware of the speculation surrounding the Argentine's future but in the words of one insider, they figured that was 'newspaper talk' – no offence taken.
There had been no fond farewells after Sunday's season finale. 'Have a good summer,' were Pochettino's parting words, with players presuming he would be leading them on their pre-season tour of the United States in July and August.
It was via rumours swirling on social media in the build-up to the 7.18pm announcement on Tuesday that the players discovered there was an impending divorce.
Naturally, that prompted a flood of hurried messages between themselves and their agents on WhatsApp as they verified, and then vilified,
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