Australian coach Ange Postecoglou has sensationally been linked with one of the biggest jobs in world football – managing Premier League giant Chelsea.
It was reported recently there was a “mystery man” on Chelsea’s shortlist of candidates to take over at the London club after Graham Potter was axed.
Mauricio Pochettino is reported to be the favourite, but Postecoglou is in the hunt, The Sun reports.
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The fight for the top job is reportedly down to three candidates after Julian Nagelsmann pulled out of the race following a series of talks with the club.
Pochettino has been out of work since he was sacked by Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season.
Chelsea contacted him over the job and now several reports are claiming that he has boosted his chances of landing the gig after “a series of positive talks” between him and the West London club.
Vincent Kompany, who has led Burnley to instant promotion back to the Premier League, is the other man on Chelsea’s three-man shortlist.
Now The Guardian have revealed the identity of the mystery third candidate — and it is Celtic’s Postecoglou.
The 57-year-old looks set to win a second consecutive Scottish Premiership title and has impressed with his attacking style of play.
The Hoops are currently 12 points clear of Rangers and have also won consecutive League Cups since his arrival in 2021.
He also has experience of the Champions League after guiding Celtic into the competition this season, although they were eliminated at the group stage.
Postecoglou, who managed Australia at the World Cup in 2014, had immense success in the A-League, Greece and Japan but has not managed in any of Europe’s big leagues.
He also famously quit the Socceroos just months out from the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He remains an outsider at the moment with Pochettino still firmly in the driving seat.
Chelsea are also believed to have considered Feyernoord’s Arne Slot.
Pochettino is one of Tottenham’s most successful and popular managers in recent history – despite failing to win a trophy with the club.
He averaged 1.89 points per game – the most for any Tottenham boss in Premier League history with a minimum of 38 Premier League games in charge.
The ex-Southampton chief capped off his five-year stint at White Hart Lane by leading Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final, where they lost to Liverpool.
But he was sacked just months later following a poor start to the 2019-20 campaign before eventually taking over at PSG in January 2021, winning the Coupe de France and Ligue 1 prior to his departure.
— This story originally appeared on thesun.co.uk and has been republished with peremission
