Premier League

STUNNED Chelsea stars have flooded in with tributes to Mauricio Pochettino after it was revealed he has left the club.Blues fans were shocked when it emerged on Tuesday that Pochettino had agreed to depart Stamford Bridge by mutual consent following an end-of-season review meeting with Blues chiefs.Mauricio Pochettino has left the club after just one season in chargeCredit: GettyCole Palmer thanked his boss for ‘making his dreams come true’Credit: ReutersNoni Madueke posted this on InstagramCredit: InstagramEven Chelsea’s stars were taken aback, with many only finding out on social media that the boss was gone.Noni Madueke was the first to comment, posting a snap of Pochettino with his arm around him alongside the caption: “Thank you.”Marc Cucurella was next up, adding: “Thanks for everything, Mister. Good luck in the future.”While Blues player of the season Cole Palmer wrote on Instagram: “Gaffer, thank you for everything you have done for me and making my dreams come true. All the best.”READ MORE IN FOOTBALLPochettino has received huge plaudits for getting the best out of Palmer.The England star finished the season on an incredible 22 league goals and helped fire Chelsea above the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle into a Europa League spot, despite a poor start to the season.But that wasn’t enough to keep Poch in a job as his departure was announced just two days after the final game of the season against Bournemouth.BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSPochettino had been called to the training ground for crunch talks on the day after that game against the Cherries, which saw Chelsea get their fifth win in a row.Most read in FootballHe supposedly spoke to sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as co-owner Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.Pochettino’s Chelsea record
MAURICIO POCHETTINO had just started to turn Chelsea around.
An impressive run of end-of-season form saw the Blues leapfrog the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle to finish sixth in the Premier League – and earn a Europa League spot.
But it wasn’t enough to keep him in a job as it was announced on Tuesday evening that the Argentine had left.
Here are all Pochettino’s Stamford Bridge stats:
Premier League – 6th
FA Cup – Semi-finals (lost to Man City)
Carabao Cup – Runners-up (Lost to Liverpool)
Total record:
Games 51Wins 26Draws 11Defeats 14
Goals for 103Goals against 74

Who could be Chelsea’s next boss after Pochettino exit?By the end of the day, a mutual decision was made that he would resign after just one season in charge.A tough start to life at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea spend much of the season in mid-table and lose the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool.But after better form in the latter stages of the term, Pochettino guided the club to a sixth-placed finish.Soon after the bombshell news was revealed, Chelsea players wrote touching tributes to their boss on social media.The messages to Poch come as no surprise as SunSport can reveal that some players are said to be “devastated” regarding his exit.And like fans, the squad only found out the shock news via social media tonight.Even some directors were left in disbelief over the sudden announcement.Pochettino is in line for an immediate return to management at Manchester United should Erik ten Hag be axed.Who could be the next Chelsea manager?
HERE are the seven names in the running to replace Mauricio Pochettino after his shock exit from Chelsea.
Roberto De Zerbi
The Italian left Brighton at the end of the season after a year and a half in charge. He was linked with a host of top jobs earlier in the campaign but a difficult run of results saw him fall out of contention for the likes of Liverpool. De Zerbi’s attacking, front-foot style would be popular at Stamford Bridge.
Kieran McKenna
The former Manchester United assistant has led Ipswich to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League. That has seen his stock shoot through the roof and he may be tempted to jump ship for a big job.
Enzo Maresca
Maresca was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City and has worked wonders at Leicester, settling the ship to send the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Appointing a Pep disciple has turned Arsenal into title contenders, so it could work for Chelsea too.
Hansi Flick
Flick was one of football’s most in-demand managers after winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich. But it all went wrong in his next role becoming the first manager ever to be sacked by Germany. Now he’s ready to return and could be a smart move for the Blues
Sebastian Hoeness
Chelsea fans may not have heard of him, but Hoeness is Germany’s next big thing. Hoeness has transformed Stuttgart from relegation candidates to the second best team in the Bundesliga, finishing above Bayern Munich. Only invincible Bayer Leverkusen got in the way of a miracle.
Michel
Michel Sanchez has worked wonders with little Girona in Spain. The minnows were right in the LaLiga title race at Christmas before watching Real Madrid shoot into the distance. But they ran illustrious Catalan neighbours Barcelona all the way for second and are guaranteed a spot on the Champions League. Reports in Spain say that has caught Chelsea’s attention.
Jose Mourinho
Still adored by fans at Stamford Bridge, who never warmed to former Spurs boss Pochettino, Mourinho would be a popular pick. Winner of three Premier League with the Blues across two topsy-turvy spells, could he be the man to take Chelsea back to the top? More

CALLS for Mauricio Pochettino to leave Chelsea rumbled on amongst fans for much of the season.But a huge improvement in form towards the end of the season saw the club qualify for Europe and put such chatter to bed.Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consentCredit: GettyBehdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly held crunch talks with the boss days before he resignedCredit: GettyBut just days after the end of the his first, and only, campaign at the helm, Pochettino shockingly left via mutual consent.A crazy 24 hours saw the 52-year-old Argentine amicably leave Chelsea following an end-of-season review meeting.The road to his departure began last Friday as Pochettino had dinner with Blues owner Todd Boehly.Chelsea then beat Bournemouth 2-1 on Sunday to secure a sixth-place finish.READ MORE ON CHELSEAThe following day, the boss was reportedly called to the Cobham training ground for crunch talks, according to The Telegraph.Sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart were there – while they also had a chat with co-owner Behdad Eghbali.By the end of the meeting, a decision was made on Pochettino’s future and he handed in his notice the following morning.Boehly also phoned Pochettino on Monday and Tuesday.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSThere was reportedly “no sacking and no arguments, just handshakes and an agreement to move on respectfully.”The reason for Poch’s departure has been put down to issues “relating to the dynamics of working within a club structure”.Who could be Chelsea’s next boss after Pochettino exit?Boehly’s record would make even Abramovich blush… we’re back to square one

HERE we go again.
Just when some positivity was building around the place and an optimistic eye was being cast to the future, Clearlake Capital go hurtling full pelt back to the drawing board, write SunSport’s Tom Sheen.
Mauricio Pochettino leaving will make it six different managers in less than two years when next season rolls around, a record that would make Roman Abramovich blush.
But while the oligarch was keeping Chelsea’s HR department busy by regularly handing out P45s, he was also regularly delivering world class players in the hope of delivering instant silverware.
There was no ‘Vision 2030’, talk of players as financial assets or ridiculous eight-year contracts that potentially hamstring the club.
Hiring and firing worked under the previous regime because Chelsea had a spine of world class talent that they were always looking to improve upon – not a group of players who look light years away from the top teams in the land.
One thing is for sure, though. If Clearlake carry on down this road they’ll need a rebrand to Vision 2060.
Click here to read Tom’s damning verdict in full…

Both the club and the boss decided it was better to part now than risk a messy end next summer with his deal expiring.The Blues play in the Club World Cup, which starts on June 15, 2025.Pochettino’s contract was due to expire at the end of that tournament, potentially creating an uneasy end to his reign should he not have earned a new deal.There was also the threat of Pochettino being axed should Chelsea start next season poorly and fan anger rise back to the forefront. Ultimately, Chelsea’s owners had set targets to qualify for the Champions League, which were not met.There was always plans in place to review the season towards the end of May.And those discussions have led to the end of Pochettino’s short reign at Stamford Bridge.Who could be the next Chelsea manager?
HERE are the seven names in the running to replace Mauricio Pochettino after his shock exit from Chelsea.
Roberto De Zerbi
The Italian left Brighton at the end of the season after a year and a half in charge. He was linked with a host of top jobs earlier in the campaign but a difficult run of results saw him fall out of contention for the likes of Liverpool. De Zerbi’s attacking, front-foot style would be popular at Stamford Bridge.
Kieran McKenna
The former Manchester United assistant has led Ipswich to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League. That has seen his stock shoot through the roof and he may be tempted to jump ship for a big job.
Enzo Maresca
Maresca was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City and has worked wonders at Leicester, settling the ship to send the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Appointing a Pep disciple has turned Arsenal into title contenders, so it could work for Chelsea too.
Hansi Flick
Flick was one of football’s most in-demand managers after winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich. But it all went wrong in his next role becoming the first manager ever to be sacked by Germany. Now he’s ready to return and could be a smart move for the Blues
Sebastian Hoeness
Chelsea fans may not have heard of him, but Hoeness is Germany’s next big thing. Hoeness has transformed Stuttgart from relegation candidates to the second best team in the Bundesliga, finishing above Bayern Munich. Only invincible Bayer Leverkusen got in the way of a miracle.
Michel
Michel Sanchez has worked wonders with little Girona in Spain. The minnows were right in the LaLiga title race at Christmas before watching Real Madrid shoot into the distance. But they ran illustrious Catalan neighbours Barcelona all the way for second and are guaranteed a spot on the Champions League. Reports in Spain say that has caught Chelsea’s attention.
Jose Mourinho
Still adored by fans at Stamford Bridge, who never warmed to former Spurs boss Pochettino, Mourinho would be a popular pick. Winner of three Premier League with the Blues across two topsy-turvy spells, could he be the man to take Chelsea back to the top? More

WHEN Jurgen Klopp announced his Liverpool departure plan back in January, Roberto De Zerbi was installed as second favourite to succeed him.When the favourite, Xabi Alonso, announced in late March he would be staying at all-conquering Bayer Leverkusen, De Zerbi’s Brighton were the next visitors to Anfield.Robert De Zerbi is building a bad reputation for being a high-maintenance managerCredit: AlamyAnd the match was billed as the Italian’s audition for the job.De Zerbi was also strongly touted as a successor to Erik ten Hag at Manchester United and Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.And given that Chelsea nab everybody else from Brighton, he was also seen as a major contender to take over at Stamford Bridge if Mauricio Pochettino departed.This high-octane, nicotine-fuelled, touchline frog-box was Europe’s most-wanted coach.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLHe guided Brighton into Europe for the first time, his team was hugely entertaining — combining Kloppish manic intensity with a Pep Guardiola purity — and everybody seemed to want a slice of him.De Zerbi certainly wasn’t shy in recognising as much.Hence his tendency to gob off about his frustrations with frequent public hints that Brighton, the most widely-admired and pound-for-pound best-run club in England, were not run to his liking.Fast forward a few months and the Italian is unemployed, with no job offers on the table and looking increasingly unlikely to get a step up to United, Bayern or Chelsea this summer while Liverpool have   plumped for Dutchman Arne Slot.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSLast week’s decision from De Zerbi, 44, and Seagulls owner Tony Bloom to part ways was a rare example of ‘mutual agreement’ meaning mutual agreement.Brighton have somehow contrived to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League — below their hated rivals Crystal Palace.  Ex Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp dances with club legend John BarnesThat might be largely down to a substantial injury crisis but Bloom’s main concern was his manager’s agitations about the club’s recruitment policy.The most remarkably profitable recruitment policy the Premier League has ever known.When Brighton went off-piste and signed Mahmoud Dahoud on a big-wage free from Borussia Dortmund last June, on De Zerbi’s insistence, the midfielder bombed and was loaned back to the Bundesliga with Stuttgart.Bloom knows what he is doing. His club’s ability to conjure up outstanding young talent for next to nothing, to sell on for a major fee and then replace like-for-like, borders on witchcraft.One of the latest to roll off the production line, Irish centre-forward Mark O’Mahony, looks so similar to Brighton’s first-choice Irish centre-forward Evan Ferguson, you wonder whether Bloom has some futuristic cloning facility in a bunker beneath the Amex.Yet an impatient De Zerbi doesn’t want to work within Brighton’s structure and has earned himself the unwelcome reputation of being a high-maintenance manager.Despite his progressive tactics, he is old-school in his desire for autonomy in an age in which owners demand managers — or ‘head coaches’ — know their place within a club’s ‘model’.A generation ago, when those big-personality alpha-male managers were the norm, De Zerbi would have been in an A-list job already. As it stands, it is unlikely that we will see him starting next season in the Premier League.For example, it’s difficult to imagine Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford opting for such an abrasive personality to take charge of United should Ten Hag, as expected, get the bullet after Saturday’s FA Cup final.This is a shame for De Zerbi and for the many of us who have enjoyed watching his progress.While Brighton were never a great long-term fit, let’s hope he is back before long.The Italian is innovative, infectious and absolute box-office gold.Somebody needs to have the balls to appoint a manager who will challenge them, rather than one who will keep his trap shut and do as he is told.De Zerbi is on the lookout for a new job after leaving BrightonCredit: ReutersROCKY RODEAT last week’s Footballer of the Year dinner, Gareth Southgate claimed Phil Foden’s stellar campaign “has made my job a lot easier” — but the opposite may be true.Earlier this season, before Foden’s leap into world-class status, the England manager questioned the player’s stated desire to start matches in the centre, rather than out wide.Now there will be a clamour for Foden to play more centrally at the Euros — and yet with Real Madrid Galactico Jude Bellingham as England’s No 10, that is going to be tough.You can hear them now, the age-old cries for Southgate to release handbrakes, throw off shackles and demand that England play like the 1982 Brazil World Cup side (who didn’t make the semi-finals).Could Southgate possibly employ Declan Rice as a single holding midfielder with Foden and Bellingham in front of him, plus two wingers and Harry Kane up top? It is highly unlikely.And even if he does, everybody will be asking why Jack Grealish and James Maddison aren’t starting as well.Instead, we may end up with Foden being shoved wide-left, just as Paul Scholes was by Sven-Goran Eriksson.That is because there is nowhere else to fit the player who secured Manchester City the title with two early goals against West Ham on Sunday.The idea of a month debating ‘boring, boring Southgate’ is boring before it has even begun.Gareth Southgate faces a selection dilemma due to England’s midfield talentCredit: APOLIVER TWISTIT was bleakly amusing that Wolves should have Nelson Semedo sent off by VAR at Anfield in the first match since their admirable bid to have the widely-loathed system scrapped in the Premier League.More interesting was Michael Oliver’s decision to ignore his VAR Stuart Attwell and award Arsenal’s late winner against Everton, despite a handball by Gabriel Jesus.As VAR is only supposed to be there for ‘clear and obvious’ errors, I made Oliver right.But here is another problem with the system — senior refs such as Oliver are occasionally emboldened enough to overrule a more junior VAR and stick with their original decision.Less-experienced refs literally never ignore a more senior man in Stockley Park. And this inconsistency is yet another of the ‘unintended consequences’ of VAR which Wolves have spoken about.Nelson Semedo was sent off for a challenge on Alexis Mac AllisterCredit: Sky Sports CHAMPS IN WAITINGAS we prepare for the next transfer window, one pertinent question is why so few top-flight clubs sign players from the Championship.Take last season’s two leading scorers in  the second division —  Chuba Akpom moved from Middlesbrough to Ajax and Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres went to Sporting Lisbon, where he is now rated at £80million after topping the Portuguese scoring charts with an impressive 29 strikes.Two of the best signings of this year’s January sales bucked this trend, with Aston Villa snapping up Boro’s promising midfielder Morgan Rogers, while Crystal Palace’s swoop for young Blackburn star Adam Wharton is proving a masterstroke.Premier League clubs scour the world for talent, yet too often ignore some gems sitting right beneath their noses. A Prem side would have been wise to sign Viktor GyokeresCredit: GettyFOOD FOR THOUGHT THE world of boxing is full of sharks, chancers and Saudi apologists — but it is also home to some diamonds.At 3.30am on Sunday by Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, there was Brit heavyweight Derek Chisora distributing a large bag of free Five Guys hamburgers to hungry,  late-working hacks.Derek Chisora dished out free burgers to workers at Fury vs UsykCredit: GettyCUP FOR IT?READ MORE SUN STORIES FIRST solid prediction for next season: Newcastle will lift their first major trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by winning the Europa Conference League.Then we can all debate whether this actually is a major trophy and talk of their 70-year wait for domestic silverware instead. Newcastle could end their trophy drought next seasonCredit: PA More

WAYNE ROONEY’S son Kai shone bright as he led Manchester United’s youth side to cup glory with a wondergoal.Kai, 14, is following in his legendary dad’s footsteps at United and proved he means business during Sunday’s Albert Phelan National Cup final against Millwall.Wayne Rooney’s son Kai scored a wondergoal for Manchester United’s Under-14sCredit: Instagram @kairooney.10Kai led Man Utd to the Albert Phelan National CupCredit: Instagram @kairooney.10The youngster helped the Red Devils’ Under-14s beat the Lions 2-0 with a sublime goal before Edson DeJonge-Seiros sealed the win.Rooney Jr opened the scoring with a stunning half-volleyed chip that looped the Millwall goalkeeper and nestled into the net.That marked Kai’s eighth goal in six cup games with the Manchester giants’ youth team.The forward took to social media where he shared pics from the team’s celebrations on the same day that saw rivals Manchester City becoming Premier League champions for the fourth year in a row.Read More on FootballKai posted on Instagram: “NATIONAL CUP. All glory to God. 8 goals in 6 games in cup. Onto next season.”United fans were left in awe after his wondergoal and stormed the comments’ section where they called for his inclusion in the first team within the next few years.One fan posted: “Special special player.”Another commented: “Pls, keep your eyes on your dad’s records at MUFC. You must break every of them. I’m very proud of you!”Most read in FootballA third wrote: “Next in line for the first team.”This fan said: “Class mate!”Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney leaves Sky Sports studio in stitches with brutal one-word response to news of VAR voteAnd that one exclaimed: “Congrats Kai.” More