Cristiano Ronaldo's teammate at Al Nassr, Anderson Talisca, has pushed an "exciting" young title-winning boss towards Chelsea.
Pochettino under pressure again after cup final defeat
It's been a very difficult debut season for Mauricio Pochettino in the Chelsea dugout, as his side risk going trophyless for another season if they fail to get anywhere in the FA Cup.
£43m ace may be one of two Chelsea striker signings as board plot spending
The Blues lost to a very young Liverpool side in the EFL Cup final on Sunday.
ByEmilio Galantini
The prospect of European football is also a distant one at best, and their dramatic extra-time defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Sunday prompted Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to brand Chelsea the 'billion-pound bottlejobs'.
This has piled more pressure on Pochettino, who was already under threat amid reports Chelsea chiefs have been considering the likes of Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso to replace the Argentine.
"This is a massive loss," said journalist Dean Jones to GiveMeSport after their defeat to Liverpool.
"You don't get a better chance to beat Liverpool than to come up against a side missing as many players as they were at Wembley. They got away with Moises Caicedo's tackle and the Virgil van Dijk VAR goal, and when their chances came along they just couldn't take them. That's hard to accept – and made harder by the fact they didn't go for the kill in extra-time when Liverpool were fielding youngsters that many people literally would never have heard of.
"The late defeat has been described as pathetic and they are being labelled bottle jobs and now they have to take on Leeds United, one of their oldest rivals in the game. Leeds will come to London believing they can cause an upset and if they do then Pochettino is probably going to be facing the sack. It could become a truly disastrous week."
Brentford
March 2nd
Newcastle
March 11th
Arsenal
March 16th
Burnley
March 30th
Their crunch Stamford Bridge clash against Daniel Farke's side could be key in determining Pochettino's immediate future, and if the former Spurs boss is in fact given his marching orders, Talisca suggests that Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim could be an ideal candidate.
Amorim pushed towards Chelsea
Speaking to Portuguese newspaper Record, via Sport Witness, Talisca heaped praise on Amorim and threw the tactician's Chelsea hat in the ring.
“I think it’s time for him to coach a club of another dimension, an Arsenal, a Chelsea – in fact, he should already be there. His career is going to be fantastic. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing!”, said Talisca.
The 39-year-old, who won the Primeira Liga with Sporting Lisbon a couple of years ago, has also been called one of Europe's most exciting young managers who turned Portuguese football upside down.