Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino says Diego Simeone has proved he can manage Chelsea, according to the Express.
Simeone is the current boss of Atletico Madrid and is one of Pochettino’s former teammates in the Argentina national side.
The Atletico Madrid manager is rumoured to be one of Chelsea’s main targets for the manager’s position, which will again become vacant next summer after Guus Hiddink has served his spell as interim boss.
Pochettino has now talked up his compatriot’s managerial credentials, saying:
Diego Simeone is a very good friend and a great manager, and he has showed his potential at Atletico. I don’t know what will happen at Chelsea in the future. We started coaching at around the same time – he was in Argentina, I was in Spain.
The Argentine duo have since gone on to become perhaps two of Europe’s most highly rated young managers, and Simeone would certainly be a great appointment should he arrive at Stamford Bridge next summer.
Simeone took over at Atletico exactly four years ago, after the Madrid-based side were beaten by Pochettino’s Espanyol side less than two weeks previously.
The Atletico position had been vacated by Quique Sanchez Flores that summer, who is now in charge of the Watford side Chelsea will face on Boxing Day.
