Mauricio Pochettino 'not at immediate risk of Chelsea sack'

Pochettino has recorded 14 wins from his 31 matches in charge of the Blues, a six percent increase on his predecessor Graham Potter.

However, despite having guided the club to the EFL Cup final, Chelsea's position in the Premier League is a cause of concern, his side now sitting in 11th position in the standings.

That is a consequence of back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, conceding four goals on each occasion to make it 39 goals shipped in 23 league fixtures.

The manner of those setbacks have led to speculation regarding Pochettino's future, the Argentine acknowledging that he cannot expect to feel safe in the dugout.

As it stands, though, The Telegraph claims that there are no plans to remove Pochettino from his position at the present time.

While the report does not necessarily state that Pochettino is safe in the long run, there is currently no desire to make a change ahead of an important period.

Chelsea make the trip to Aston Villa in their FA Cup fourth-round replay on Wednesday night as they bid to keep open three routes to European qualification for 2024-25.

Further away games versus Crystal Palace and Manchester City are to follow, before Chelsea go up against Liverpool in the EFL Cup final on February 25.

Nevertheless, it is claimed that Pochettino's position remains up for review in the summer, when he will be midway through a two-year contract.

Failure to qualify for Europe would naturally lead to a likely departure, so a game such as the one against Villa on Wednesday will be deemed high priority by key figures when Chelsea sit in the bottom half of the Premier League.

On Monday, a report also emerged that Chelsea are not in the financial position where they could facilitate sacking Pochettino courtesy of the payouts that would be due to the 51-year-old and his backroom staff.

That would allegedly come to in excess of £10m and would potentially put the West Londoners at risk of not passing the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability regulations.