Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino reportedly has plans to hold his own in discussions with the club's co-owners.
The Argentine has just completed his first campaign at Stamford Bridge, delivering a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League to guarantee European football for next season if all financial regulations are passed.
Furthermore, the Blues reached the EFL Cup final, where they lost 1-0 to Liverpool, and they also suffered defeat by the same scoreline when they faced Manchester City in the semi-finals.
At one stage of the season, Pochettino's position in the dugout looked particularly fragile with Chelsea occupying a place in the bottom half of the table.
However, ending 2023-24 with five successive wins - against Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion and Bournemouth - has helped win over a large section of the fanbase.
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Pochettino stay far from guaranteed
For now, though, it appears as though Pochettino's future is far from set in stone, even though he holds a contract that has 12 months left to run and would cost Chelsea further money if they were to sack him and his staff.
Pochettino has already revealed that he had dinner with Todd Boehly last week, but he would be 'waiting by his phone this week' to communicate with club officials over next season.
According to the Evening Standard, Pochettino is ready to fight his corner when holding discussions with other members of the hierarchy and recruitment team.
In the past, it has been well documented that the 52-year-old has had little say over club transfers, with the expectation that he must make the most of the tools provided for him.
The Argentine is known to have wanted a greater physical presence in midfield at one stage and that may be part of his questioning over the coming days.
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Could there be a mutual parting of the ways?
While it has been stressed that Pochettino is eager to remain in West London and continue to spearhead the project, there are more and more signs that he is not necessarily prepared to work without a certain level of input.
The report alleges that Boehly and Clearlake Capital plan to continue to back the club's sporting directors, who are prioritising younger talent from abroad.
As per claims over recent days, Chelsea have already sounded out Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim and Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna in the event that Pochettino departs the club.
Chelsea will have to make player sales in due course in a bid to fulfil all of the necessary criteria with the Premier League and UEFA.
However, it is unclear how Pochettino will react if Boehly and Clearlake persist with their preference of selling the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher, who could plausibly generate in excess of £60m.
Darren Plant
