Mauricio Pochettino reveals hopes of Tottenham return despite ‘difficult’ ending at the club – and admits he’s still in contact with Daniel Levy
- Mauricio Pochettino led Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019
- Six years on, he has admitted he still keeps a close eye on the north London club
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Why Eddie Howe is the ‘greatest coach of his generation’
Mauricio Pochettino has revealed his hopes of ‘one day’ returning to Tottenham.
Pochettino managed Spurs for five-and-a-half years between 2014 and 2019 and led them to the Champions League final in his last year at the club.
The Argentine was sacked just five months after losing the Champions League final to Liverpool, and has since coached their London rivals Chelsea before being appointed USA manager last September.
However, his fondness for Tottenham has not gone away, and he has admitted that he is still open to a north London return in the future.
In an interview with Sky Sports, the Argentine said: ‘Look, when I left the club I always remember one interview I said I would like one day to come back to Tottenham and that is of course.
‘I am in the USA, I am not going to no, I’m not going to talk about that, but what I said then still after six years or five years, I still feel in my heart that, yes, I would like one day to come back. We see the timing, like Daniel said’.
Mauricio Pochettino has revealed his hopes of ‘one day’ returning to manage Tottenham
The Argentine spent five and a half years in charge of Tottenham before his 2019 exit
Opening up on his relationship with Tottenham chairman Levy, Pochettino revealed that he is still in contact with his former boss despite their difficult ending.
‘He is always there and he’s going to be there. It’s another thing to take professional decisions. It’s true after nearly six years with all that we lived together, it was tough because of all the ups and downs and emotional things that we lived.
‘I’ve seen always it’s difficult in football that that doesn’t affect all this type of situation in your relationship. For us, we split very well.
‘One thing was professional, another personal and now, like the day after we left Tottenham, we keep always a very, very good relationship.’
A potential return to Tottenham could be on the cards for Pochettino given the growing pressure on current boss Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham find themselves down in 14th place, just 10 points above the relegation zone, after losing 13 of their 24 league games to date.
The north London outfit also exited the Carabao Cup and FA Cup last week to pile the pressure on Postecoglou.
Despite Pochettino’s eagerness to return to the club, a recent report claimed that Spurs have already identified two potential replacements for the Australian.
Pochettino (pictured left) famously led Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019
The Argentine is fondly remembered at Tottenham despite failing to end their trophy drought
According to The Telegraph, Spurs have already decided that Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva will certainly be among the leading candidates to take over the squad in the next season.
But, the report stated that the current board remains supportive of Postecoglou management despite a poor season, which was extremely hit by several key players’ injuries.
The Australian’s saving grace is the side’s progress in the Europa League, which is the only chance of silverware that Spurs have in the campaign. Should they get knocked out, it’s likely that Postecoglou’s position will be under scrutiny.
