Chelsea targeting manager that they’ve been in discussions with for weeks

Although it wouldn’t necessarily have come as a shock to see Mauricio Pochettino leaving Chelsea by mutual consent, understanding that the club have already been in discussions with a replacement for weeks sheds new light on the situation at Stamford Bridge.

The Argentinian’s departure appears to have left a sour taste with some players taking to social media to support the outgoing manager, however, Football Insider sources note that the Blues hierarchy clearly had other ideas in mind for whom they would like in the dugout well before this week’s pre-arranged post-season talk with Pochettino took place.

Chelsea want Kieran McKenna

McKenna has worked wonders with Ipswich Town, guiding them to two successive promotions whilst playing a brand of football that’s incredibly pleasing on the eye.

The former Man United man is one of a new breed of young coaches that are looking to teach the more established managerial names a things or two about how football should be played in the modern era.

At just 38 years of age, McKenna is one of the youngest managers in the game, but has commanded respect from everyone as a result of the success he’s brought to the Portman Road outfit.

Were Erik ten Hag to be sacked at Man United, though it would be a brave choice, one can imagine McKenna grabbing the opportunity to manage at Old Trafford with both hands.

As of this moment, that’s not on the table and his representatives continue to speak with Chelsea to understand how things would look at the club with McKenna in situ.

It would certainly be a coup if Todd Boehly were able to land him, however, the American and his high-ranking employees on the football side would have to understand that McKenna would need time to bed in and get his ideas across.

Continuing with a ‘hire em and fire em’ approach in that instance would be a really bad look for Chelsea.