Mauricio Pochettino says he is yet to decide who will replace Cesar Azpilicueta as Chelsea’s captain and will evaluate the squad before announcing his pick later this summer.
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The long-serving Spaniard, who joined the club from Marseille back in 2012, succeeded Gary Cahill as skipper four years ago but was granted permission to terminate his contract early and return to Spain.
He came close to joining Barcelona last year but was convinced to stay by then boss Thomas Tuchel, but has now signed a one-year deal with Atletico Madrid.
Azpilicueta’s exit is part of a massive summer clear-out at Stamford Bridge that has seen the likes of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz join Premier League rivals Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, while senior players like Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante have also left.
Chelsea still have an abundance of experienced players who could take on the captaincy, but Pochettino is in no rush to decide now and wants to work with the squad for a while before naming Azpilicueta’s successor.
Asked if he already has an idea of who he wants to inherit the armband, Pochettino replied: ‘The next captain? Well first of all we need to close the squad.
‘And then I need to know all the players. I think I need to feel the players, I need to feel the commitment, I need to feel the character and personalities.
‘One thing is looking from outside, another is when you are working with them – for positive and not so positive.
‘First of all we need to close the squad and then we have many players who have experience and then we will decide.’
Pochettino has suggested many decisions about who would leave Chelsea have been taken by the club’s recruitment team rather than himself, saying certain ‘personal situations’ were factored into the thought process.
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He continued: ‘I think the club are doing a fantastic job, I am happy and of course we will continue to work in this way with the plan that they create.
‘And, of course, from now, from July 1, I’m going to be more and more involved. I will work with them to judge and to try and take the decisions.’
He added: ‘Many circumstances going on, different situations, personal situations, things to care about that I wasn’t informed of or didn’t know about because it’s obvious I was outside of the football club, that is why I trust in them and said, “You know better than me”.’
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