Mauricio Pochettino’s time as Chelsea manager has come to an end (Image: Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)
Despite leading his young Blues team to a successful finish to the 2023–24 season and a return to Europe the following season, Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea by mutual consent.
Chelsea misfit Malang Sarr seems to be making fun of Mauricio Pochettino in the wake of the manager’s abrupt resignation.
Tuesday, Pochettino, 52, left the Blues by mutual consent following less than a year in leadership. Given that Chelsea had only lost once in their final 14 Premier League games and had finished the 2023–24 season on a five-game winning streak, the announcement was unexpected.
In addition, the former Tottenham manager had sealed a sixth-place result, ensuring his team’s trip back to Europe the following year. But now that Pochettino is under scrutiny, someone else will be in charge, which may be good news for Sarr, the defender the Argentine seemed to have forgotten about at the August press conference.
The 25-year-old Frenchman did not play during the summer preseason last year despite having been loaned to Monaco the previous season. When asked where Sarr was in reality, Pochettino brusquely answered, “Who?”
“Oh my,” a bewildered-looking Pochettino responded after a journalist had once again identified the left-sided center defender and asked where goalkeeper Jamie Cumming, who had appeared in one preseason game, was. Jamie followed by Malang Sarr, yes.
“I’m not sure what I can share with you. Because you surprise me, I’m not sure. Pochettino continued, pretending to take a punch to the face and appear stunned. “It feels like you’ve punched me and I am like this.” “We had been discussing Luton! I’ll explain later; I wasn’t ready for this.”
The 25-year-old Sarr now appears to have expressed his opinions about Pochettino, liking the Blues’ Instagram post confirming the manager’s exit. The former Nice and Porto player signed a three-year contract with Chelsea on a free transfer, but he has only made 21 appearances in the first team since. He currently practices with the club’s under-21 team and has no desire to participate in youth games.
While Thomas Tuchel was still in charge, he made his most recent appearance in a blue shirt on the last day of the 2021–22 campaign. After that, Sarr was loaned to Monaco for the previous season, where he appeared in 17 games before suffering an injury.
Then-sporting director Paul Mitchell stated in June 2023 that “Malang unfortunately got an injury, a muscular abdominal injury, in training a few months ago so he wasn’t available for selection for a long time,” which is why the Ligue 1 team chose not to exercise their £10 million option to buy him permanently.
Sarr’s contract at Stamford Bridge is set to expire in the summer of 2020.
