Portuguese manager admits London trip was a ‘mistake’ as Chelsea scramble to clear meeting claims

Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim believes his trip to London was a ‘mistake’ amid Chelsea clearing meeting claims with the boss

Chelsea has refuted accusations made by Portugal that the manager, Ruben Amorim, visited London last week in order to meet with the Blues, not West Ham, over Mauricio Pochettino‘s replacement.

It became known that Amorim was actually travelling to London for unexpected negotiations with West Ham United. In the end, the talks were fruitless, and the Sporting manager has since expressed regret for travelling to England.

That appeared to be the end of it, but then a Portuguese journalist wrote on social media that Chelsea had really paid for Amorim’s airfare to London, sending representatives to speak with the 39-year-old on his potential summer replacement for Mauricio Pochettino.

Amorim’s apology

Amorim, however, said it was a “mistake” to conduct negotiations with another team and expressed regret for travelling to London when Sporting was still in the running for the championship. He said (h/t Metro):

“The most important point – my trip was a mistake. The timing was completely off, it didn’t seem right to me at the time. It was inappropriate, even more so when I am so demanding with my players, I am always the first to say that each one’s individual problems cannot be overcome by the team and, therefore, it was my fault.”

“I have to accept it and live with it. Thinking coldly afterwards, it is very clear. It’s also not true that I didn’t explain to the players. I gave it to the players and the staff. Now it’s time to move forward, also using the public part to apologize to Sporting fans, the staff and especially, publicly, to my players.”

Chelsea denies meeting claims

Chelsea received word of this story quite quickly. The Blues are absolutely adamant that they had no involvement in Amorim’s journey to England. Chelsea has firmly distanced themselves from the rumours, rejecting claims that they spoke or even had a meeting with the Sporting manager.

Chelsea has not yet decided on the future of its present manager, despite the tremendous pressure Pochettino is under. Several sources have consistently hinted that Pochettino’s future would be made public at the conclusion of the current campaign.

Pochettino’s sack seems a bit unlikely at such an early stage of Pochettino’s Chelsea journey. Moreover, his Blues squad is also keen on his stay at the club, as they do not want to go through any more managerial changes and they do not believe that their inconsistent performance could be blamed on their boss.

Pochettino will also have the chance to give feedback on the performance of club officials during his debut year at Stamford Bridge, after which a decision on his continuation will be final.

More Chelsea news

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• £97.5m Chelsea star considering his options this summer as transfer looks likely

We’ve been hearing for months now that Mauricio Pochettino will be evaluated at the end of the season. The club will undoubtedly be monitoring potential managers. But they won’t meet with them at this crucial juncture and run the risk of undermining his authority.