Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has backed Mauricio Pochettino to make a quick impact at Chelsea following his imminent appointment as head coach. The Blues are expected to formally announce the arrival of Pochettino soon and Richards believes the Argentine is an ‘outstanding appointment’ who will make Chelsea competitive again. Pochettino is targeting four signings in his first summer in charge at Chelsea, including a sensational swoop for Spurs star Harry Kane. He has also warned Chelsea’s hierarchy it will take two years to fix the club and make them title challengers once again, and is set to put the squad through a brutal fitness test.
Richards told the Daily Mail: ‘A miserable season for Chelsea will soon be over and I will say this now: it will not be repeated next year. Mauricio Pochettino is an outstanding appointment and will make them competitive. There are some big decisions to make with the squad but he is inheriting talent. They could take off.’
Chelsea have endured a difficult season under Frank Lampard, with early exits from the domestic cups and 11th place in the Premier League table with three games left. They were also eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. Chelsea have spent over £600m on players since the summer when co-owner Todd Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich, but now look forward to a fresh start under Pochettino, who reportedly turned down eight clubs before agreeing to take the Chelsea job.