Mauricio Pochettino picks five Chelsea players to construct squad around after signing his contract

After two weeks of negotiations with Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, Mauricio Pochettino is ready to start planning for next season.

Chelsea will officially announce Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager this week.

The 51-year-old Argentine has been negotiating with Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali for over two weeks. He will start planning for next season with an end-of-season fire-sale and a fresh, younger squad.

Pochettino, who will take over next season, will bring his trusty assistant Jesus Perez, his son and fitness coach Sebastian, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez, and assistant coach Miguel D’Agostino. Frank Lampard, who has struggled since returning, will depart Chelsea at the end of the season.

Lampard had lost his previous six, raising concerns about his club legacy. The players who underperformed under the former Everton and Derby manager are now playing for their futures under Pochettino. The Argentine wants to keep expiring midfielder N’Golo Kante.

Chelsea officials were worried the 31-year-old France midfielder will quit at season’s end. Kante is admired by numerous European clubs, including Barcelona, PSG, and Bayern Munich.

Pochettino wants to rebuild Chelsea from the back and sees the Frenchman as crucial to protecting the back four. Young defenders Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill and fullbacks Reece James and Ben Chilwell are safe.

In his early years at Spurs and Southampton, Pochettino built from the back to make them Premier League heavyweights. With Kepa and Edouard Mendy in doubt, he is believed to be searching for a new Chelsea goalkeeper.

Before Chelsea’s triumph at Bournemouth last week, Boehly discussed Chelsea’s flaws and said they are certain they can fix them. Lampard’s team is sixth behind Fulham in 11th.

“You know they want to win and we get that we want to win so you know I think our view though was that this is a long-term project and you know we’re committed to the long-term,” he said.

“We very much believe that we’re going to figure it out. We’ve got the best league in the world, we’ve got what I think is the top city in the world and we’ve got an unbelievable location in the top city in the world.”