The Argentinian was named as the Blues’ new manager on Monday after months of speculation over who will permanently succeed Graham Potter in west London.
Pochettino will be tasked at turning things round under Todd Boehly’s ownership after the first full season under the American was a complete disaster.
Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali have spent around £600m over the last two transfer windows on new players, leaving Chelsea with a bloated squad suffering from a lack of direction.
Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel in September but he was sacked in early April after picking up just 12 wins in 31 matches in all competitions.
Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was then appointed for a second spell in charge as caretaker boss but he won just one game in 11 before the season ended.
And now the Daily Mail claim that Pochettino wants to oversee ‘ruthless £280m clearout’ after Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League with ’15 stars set to head for the exits’.
Chelsea hope that ‘well over 10 players will go to help make the situation more manageable for Pochettino’ with Joao Felix confirmed as the ‘first casualty’ after Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo confirmed the Portugal international will return to his parent club.
Cerezo revealed: “We’ve known for less than 24 hours. The Chelsea manager does not count on him.
“He will come back when his loan ends and we will see what happens. We do not have anything planned but he is an Atletico Madrid player.”
And the Daily Mail has listed all the 15 players who could leave this summer: Christian Pulisic (£25m), Mateo Kovacic (£35m), Hakim Ziyech (£15m), N’Golo Kante (free), Kalidou Koulibaly (loan), Edouard Mendy (£25m), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (free), Cesar Azpilicueta (£5m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£10m), Mason Mount (£75m), Conor Gallagher (£40m), Trevoh Chalobah (£25m), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£25m), Joao Felix (end of loan) and Denis Zakaria (end of loan).
Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley issued a joint statement after Pochettino was revealed as manager.
The statement read: “Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward.
“He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”
