Chelsea stars ‘excited’ by Mauricio Pochettino taking charge after speaking to Spurs players but many will face axe

CHELSEA players are excited about the prospect of Mauricio Pochettino becoming the club's next manager according to reports.

The Argentine has emerged as the favourite to replace Graham Potter who was sacked earlier this month.

Julian Nagelsmann had been the front runner for the job before he withdrew from the race on Friday.

Chelsea have held several rounds of positive talks with Pochettino and their admiration for the 51 year old is growing.

According to the move towards the former Spurs manager has been welcomed by players in the dressing room who are said to be 'positive' and 'excited' by the potential appointment.

Chelsea's England stars have international team-mates from Spurs who have worked under Pochettino.

And, the report adds that there is acknowledgement within the squad for his coaching skills, alongside his reputation for being a good motivator and man manager.

However the 51 year old's potential arrival will not be good news for all the club's players as the report adds that Pochettino would be in favour of backing a squad clear out.

As many as 10 first team players may need to be moved on with the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Conor Gallagher, Mateo Kovacic, Cesar Azpilicueta and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang just a few players facing an uncertain future at the club.

It would be interesting to see how Chelsea would potentially line-up under Pochettino with so much change to the club's playing squad expected over the summer.

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Pochettino currently tops the club's three man shortlist which also contains Burnley's Vincent Kompany and the recently revealed unknown candidate Ange Postecoglou.

The report says that Chelsea had been concerned about Pochettino's links to Spurs but those fears have subsided significantly, as he is thought to not see it as an issue having not yet been contacted by Spurs over their managerial vacancy.

Chelsea are back in action on Wednesday night as they host Brentford at Stamford Bridge with Frank Lampard still looking for his win as caretaker manager.