Chelsea respond to claims they met with Ruben Amorim to replace Mauricio Pochettino

The Sporting boss was in London last week for talks over his future (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea have shot down claims from Portugal that Ruben Amorim’s trip to London last week was actually to speak to the Blues – not West Ham – about replacing Mauricio Pochettino.

The Sporting coach was forced to apologise over the weekend after he was spotted in London just days before his side were due to face Porto in the league, with the assumption being that he was in the capital to speak with West Ham.

For a long time, Amorim had been mooted as a potential replacement for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, though the Reds’ move for Feyenoord’s Arne Slot saw him switch his attention elsewhere and it was believed that he had spoken to West Ham’s hierarchy about taking over from David Moyes.

But on Tuesday morning, Portuguese journalist Pedro Sepulveda sensationally claimed that the trip had actually been set up by Chelsea, with Amorim meeting members of the club’s board to discuss succeeding the under-pressure Pochettino.

Chelsea, though, have moved quickly to deny the rumour, with The Telegraph’s Matt Law reporting that the west Londoners are ‘absolutely adamant’ they did not pay for Amorim’s flight to London.

Moreover, they did not hold any meetings or talks with the 39-year-old during his stay, with a decision over Pochettino’s future – and any potential managerial search – only happening once the season is over.

The Blues are currently marooned in ninth place in the Premier League table and are facing a fight to qualify for Europe next season, with a failure to do so potentially costing Pochettino his job.

Pochettino needs a strong end to the season to solidify his position (Picture: Getty)

At the moment, his future is in the balance and results – and performances – in the run-in will play a huge factor in determining his fate, with any suggestion of the squad downing tools reflecting badly on him.

Amorim, meanwhile, apologised for taking the trip to London while Sporting are still fighting for the title and says it was a ‘mistake’ to hold talks with another club.

‘Let’s get the elephant out of the room. I’ll talk about this once. The first thing is that the club was aware of my trip. It’s important and changes the context,’ Amorim said on Saturday afternoon.

‘The second situation, talking about the cloak of secrecy surrounding the trip. I “secretly” parked the car outside, passed around 15 people, took photos with people and got on the plane.

‘Therefore, remove a little bit of that thing that was done behind our backs, mainly from the club.

‘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 apologise to Sporting fans, the staff and especially, publicly, to my players.’

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