Former Chelsea midfielder picks ideal replacement for Mauricio Pochettino

Former Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes Roberto De Zerbi is the ideal man to take over at Stamford Bridge.

Current Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has failed to turn around the slump the club suffered under Graham Potter and then Frank Lampard, and there are rumours he will be replaced in the summer.

Chelsea have a habit of taking players and managers from Brighton and so have been linked with another return, this time to secure De Zerbi as their next head coach.

Speaking to Genting Casino, Petit was worried by the turnover at his former club, but backed De Zerbi’s abilities.

He said: “I hear criticism about Mauricio Pochettino every week, do the fans want him sacked? It's exhausting for the fans, players and staff to keep changing the manager.

"Restarting under a new coach again and again and again is tiring. Give time to Pochettino, Chelsea need to stop signing and selling players. I hear rumours of defenders in Ligue 1 being linked to Chelsea and I'm thinking, 'What the hell?'

“If something goes wrong, the first instinct should not be to sign 16 new players or replace the manager. I know the fans and players are frustrated, but what is this culture? 

“If it comes to it, the only manager I can see replacing Pochettino is Roberto De Zerbi. 

“De Zerbi lost half of his Brighton team and still played consistently with his ideologies and got his teams to play good football. 

“If Chelsea are changing their players all the time, he can instil a mentality in the club to play a certain way.”

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