Mauricio Pochettino's appointment with Chelsea close to being confirmed

It is understood that 90min has learned that Chelsea will soon announce the arrival of their new manager, Mauricio Pochettino, early next week following the final round of talks.

After Julian Nagelsmann withdrew from discussions, the Blues singled out former Tottenham boss Pochettino as their primary target, and the final touches are being put on his appointment at Stamford Bridge.

At the beginning of the month, the parties reached an agreement on the terms in principle, and it is understood that the final details of the backroom staff and the agreed hierarchal structure at the club are being ironed out. With Pochettino's arrival, Chelsea will see a welcome boost following their latest disappointing result, a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.

During the talks, Pochettino expressed his thoughts on the current squad at Chelsea, as the club aims for an improved campaign in 2023/24. Under the new ownership, a legion of players has already joined the team, but more additions could come this summer, with stars like Dusan Vlahovic, Moises Caicedo, and Declan Rice of interest to them.

After Thomas Tuchel's successor was sacked, Frank Lampard stepped in to replace Graham Potter, and he picked up his first win back at the club with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth last week. Raheem Sterling's double earned them a point with Forest on Saturday.

Pochettino gained cult status at Tottenham by leading them to a second-place finish in the 2016/17 Premier League and the 2018/19 Champions League final, while also cultivating a young group of players into challengers. He won Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain but couldn't succeed in Europe.

In this week's episode of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. The agenda includes Aurelien Tchouameni, Lionel Messi, Moises Caicedo, Rafael Leao, Kim min-Jae, David De Gea, Dusan Vlahovic, and more.