Chelsea may have secured a 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Thursday but that has reportedly done nothing to ease the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino.

The Blues have endured another disappointing season and sit in eighth place in the Premier League table, with qualification for the Europa League or Europa Conference League the only thing left to fight for.

Sources have informed TEAMtalk that several players and board members at Chelsea think Pochettino is a “dead man walking” at Stamford Bridge.

The manager will be given until the end of the season but there is a real chance that he’ll be sacked before the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

Chelsea have already begun drawing up a shortlist of potential replacements for Pochettino.

As exclusively revealed by TEAMtalk, former Bayern Munich and Germany manager Hansi Flick is one candidate who is greatly admired.

Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi and Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim are also on a three-man shortlist drawn up by Chelsea club chiefs.

Hansi Flick tipped to become next Chelsea manager

German football expert Christian Falk has now backed up our exclusive story, stating that Flick can be considered a ‘strong candidate’ to take over at Stamford Bridge.

“Hansi Flick is now a strong candidate for the Chelsea job,” Christian Falk told CaughtOffside in his Fact Files column.

“Flick would love to manage in the Premier League and is looking at the big six. He was talking with Tottenham before he was coaching the national team. This would be a club on his level.

“Chelsea is very interesting as he talked with the club after Frank Lampard was sacked; there was a telephone call between him and former director Marina Granovskaia.

“At this point, he was the treble-winning coach for Bayern (from the 2019/20 season) and he said no when the talks took place, in 2021, at the time because he was at the club. But he was interested in Chelsea.

“Now that they’re searching for another manager, and they know he’s interested, I think this topic can get hot.”

As mentioned by Falk, Flick won the treble with Bayern Munich in 2019/20 and remains an extremely well-regarded manager across Europe.

A serial winner like the German coach could be exactly what Chelsea need to challenge at the top of the Premier League again next season.

Pochettino hits back at ‘stupid’ sack rumours

Pochettino was asked about his potential sacking in a recent press conference and was visibly enraged by the question.

““I’ve had enough of these stupid rumours. You need to ask the club, whether the club wants me to keep going or not,” Pochettino said.

“If I have one more year on my contract here and no one says anything, then I suppose that I am going to be here.

“If there’s a decision and someone says to me ‘ciao’, okay. But we don’t know at the moment”.

It is worth noting that if a new Chelsea manager is appointed in the coming weeks, they will have to make some big decisions regarding the future of various players.

TEAMtalk sources state that several ‘homegrown’ players – such as Tottenham target Conor Gallagher – will have to be sold so the Blues comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

This will have to happen before Chelsea can bring in any more big-money signings.