Inside Mauricio Pochettino’s inner circle, with sports scientist son and ex Olympic champ, set to take over at Chelsea
CHELSEA’S hunt for their fourth manager since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took over the club is seemingly coming to a close.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be named the new Blues boss this week.
The Argentinian, 51, will take over from interim boss Frank Lampard, who is likely to continue until the end of the season.
Former PSG boss Poch will inherit a bloated squad full of superstars, after the Blues splurged over £600million across two transfer windows.
To encourage harmony, he will bring with him his trusted backroom staff.
These include his sports scientist son and an ex Olympic champion.
Jesus Perez, Assistant Manager
Spaniard Perez, 51, is held in such high-regard by the former Tottenham manager he has described him as an “extension of myself.”
They started their Premier League odyssey at Southampton, a job which the assistant convinced his manager to take despite speaking very little English at the time.
But you have to go back as far as 2010 when their paths first crossed at Espanyol.
Perez was brought into the club by sporting director Ramon Planes, before he worked alongside Poch on the basis of being the only coach at the LaLiga side who knew how to use prototype match analysis software.
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Obsessed with fitness, he is widely regarded as helping both Southampton and Tottenham become one of the fittest teams in the country.
His fitness plan is believed to have aided the physical development of Harry Kane.
Miguel D’Agostino, Assistant Coach
When Pochettino played at Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina under Marcelo Bielsa, he formed a close friendship with fellow defender D’Agostino.
The bruising centre back’s distinguished career saw him play in Chile, Ecuador, France, Mexico and Spain, before he hung up his boots in 2003.
After he retired, D’Agostino, 51, tried his hand at coaching and worked at Canet-en-Rousillon, Brest and Dubai CSC.
In 2009, Pochettino invited his friend to Espanyol, where he began scouting for the club.
Soon, he became a full-time member of the coaching staff – filming training sessions and providing analysis.
However, D’Agostino almost drowned when he was thrown overboard on a rafting trip with Pochettino in Argentina, where they were also joined by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
Toni Jimenez, Goalkeeper Coach
Jimenez, 52, played between the sticks for Espanyol and then Atletico Madrid, after starting his career at Barcelona.
He was also capped three times for Spain.
But his international career is best remembered for appearing at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he was picked ahead of Valencia legend Santiago Canizares.
The shotstopper, who featured in a team that had the likes of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique in the first eleven, would win a gold medal with his country.
When he retired from football, Jimenez worked as a director at Espanyol before completing his coaching badges alongside Pochettino.
France World Cup winner Hugo Lloris has been complimentary about the pair’s coaching techniques in the past.
“When I first met Toni and Mauricio, I started spending more time in the gym and looking after my body, developing more muscle and improving my technique,” Lloris revealed.
“I spend a lot of time with him and with Toni looking at videos and they showed me what they expected from me.
“The first few weeks, you wonder if what they are trying to do will work but after you start to notice at training and later in the game and then you think, ‘Okay, maybe they’re right’.”
Sebastiano Pochettino, Sports Scientist and Fitness Coach
Despite being Poch’s son, there’s is no sentiment with appointing Sebastiano.
The eldest of his clan at 28, he began working with his dad at Tottenham in 2016 as a sports scientist and fitness coach.
Before his appointment he received a first class honours degree from Southampton Solent University in Applied Sports Science.
He moved with his father to PSG, where he completed a Masters in the ‘Integrative Biology of the Adaptations to Exercise for Health and Performance’ at Paris-Saclay University.
English, French and Spanish speaking, Sebastiano specialises in injury prevention and strength and conditioning training.
Back in 2017, Poch denied nepotism when it came to his son and insisted he could go on to work for another manager.
Karina Pochettino, Wife
The person who Poch trusts the most is wife, Karina.
They met at a Rosario nightclub called Arrow in 1991, and it was love at first sight.
Three years later the pair walked down the aisle as his career with Newell’s Old Boys was taking off.
She lives a very private life and is very rarely seen in football circles.
However, Karina, 49, was said to be instrumental in convincing her husband to manage on our shores.
Poch wobbled on the idea when Southampton offered him the post in 2013 because of his lack of English.
That’s when Karina stepped in and said he should give it shot. The rest is history.