Strike

There are few other areas to sort out before Olise

Pep usually allows players to leave Many have left in last few years. I can remember only Bernardo and Walker being persuaded to stay. Rest like Gundogan, Ferran, Jesus, Zinchenko all left. Even Ake and few others were close to being sold

Is Bento a GK option? 24 year old Brazilian GK who's keeping out Ederson and Allisson from the national team. Yet to come to Europe and Inter are trying to finish the deal for him.

Poch is a technically limited coach but he built good relationships with this group of players. It’s evident in the reaction to his departure. I think ownership thinks they are reinventing football with these decisions but unless they get the appointment right, all the goodwill of the last few weeks will go away in a flash

McKenna would be a wild appointment but I wouldn’t put it past these owners. Thomas Frank hasn’t shown the kind of possession based control football that the owners are supposedly looking for. I’m wondering why his name is even on the short list. Enzo Maresca has worked with Joe Shields before. Could be that they go to him.

Those 3 and Hoeness (tough pull) are the shortlist according to Athletic.

Athletic sources: Kieran Mckenna, Enzo Maresca, Thomas Frank, Sebastian Hoeness, in the shortlist. De Zerbi, Kompany are unlikely candidates. No chance of Tuchel, Conte or Mourinho.

or Man United

I liked De Zerbi’s Brighton. They tailed off badly after injuries and had to deal with a European run but he showed he can get a team to control games

Looking like de Zerbi is the standout candidate. Hoeness recently extended contract and rejected Bayern. Nagelsmann- too is tied till 26

The job will be available again in October.

Tuchel is hardly elite. His league record is pretty bad and I'd stay clear of him even if he were interested. I liked his leadership but for years, he just wasn't able to think of what to do with his attackers the last time he was here. His time in Bayern is also very unflattering.

I like data and empirical evidence to back up decisions as much as Boehly and co. But football is also about people and dressing rooms. The players will now be thinking here was a manager here who's getting things right. By all accounts, the manager market is weak and for that reason alone, this was an avoidable decision.

This is true. Lack of continuity only way to save this is if we get the replacement right and the market is non existent

This list looks weak One of them was relegated, other was fighting relegation and the third was in the lower leagues

Board is not saying Poch should not have a say. They are saying Poch won't dictate transfer policy. Even Klopp at Liverpool worked with a sporting director who was driving transfer strategy.

Yeah - even the pro-Poch crowd can only point to the last few games for the positives. That includes a 5-0 collapse vs Arsenal that people conveniently ignore. Poch staying should be under the current system where he is the coach who's got a credible recruitment team. Work with them and give suggestions if needed but nothing to suggest he's the kind of coach who should be given a voice in transfer strategy

"Chelsea want a head coach who will feed into the conversation around potential signings and sales without seeking to dictate strategy or make demands, and commit to working with the talent assembled by the recruitment team." Completely reasonable ask from Clearlake if this is the case.

Managers need not be given power over transfers. We saw how it went with Conte. + Clearlake's transfers aren't looking so bad now are they? Palmer and Gusto are the clear standouts. But even among the rest - Cucurella, Caicedo, Noni, Jackson have shown that over a larger sample size, they are holding up, showing they belong at this level. Only clear misses are Mudryk,

The Bayern manager search is making it clear there aren't many options to replace Poch