Julian Nagelsmann's agent has described Chelsea as a club "in troubled waters" and insisted his client was correct to snub a move to Stamford Bridge.
Volker Struth, the agent of the former Bayern Munich boss, has also claimed that the Blues viewed Nagelsmann as their number one target and only turned their attentions to Mauricio Pochettino once it became clear they would miss out on their main man.
Pochettino is on the cusp of becoming the latest manager at the helm of Chelsea, with the Argentine expected to sign a three-year deal in the coming days. It marks his first return to the English game since he was sacked from his post as Tottenham boss in November 2019.
Nagelsmann's agent has told Bild’s podcast Phrasenmaher : "I can confirm that Chelsea were quick to call [after Nagelsmann's dismissal at Bayern Munich]. There were some phone conversations.
"It was the right decision [by Nagelsmann] not to go there. It's a club in troubled waters at the moment. And their transfer policy, spending a few hundred million euros, has raised expectations that need to be met. There were also some other issues.
"'He was their number one [choice], that was our information. I believe it would have happened if he had wanted it."
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The Athletic have since reported that while Chelsea admit they held some interest in Nagelsmann, the Blues deny any claim that the 35-year-old was ever first choice.
As for Pochettino, the former Paris Saint-Germain boss is currently in Spain but will fly into London at some point this week to finalise the deal.
Becoming the new manager of Chelsea is unlikely to do much for Pochettino's Spurs legacy, but this is clearly an opportunity that the Argentine feels is too good to turn down.
He'll also be well aware of the size of the task that awaits him in west London, with Chelsea enduring one of the worst season's in their recent history this term.
With just three games left to play, Chelsea languish all the way down in 11th and are on course for a bottom-half finish come the end of the campaign.
This comes in the face of spending more than £500million since the last summer window, meaning Pochettino's priority must be to start getting a tune out of Chelsea's expensively assembled squad before he starts thinking about adding more players.
Pochettino will need to hit the ground running to avoid the kind of fate that met both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter this season.
