Mauricio Pochettino has posted a timely reminder that he is back in London after Tottenham parted company with Antonio Conte.
Pochettino spent five-and-a-half years at the helm of the north London club, taking them to the Champions League final in 2019 before being dismissed six months later. He subsequently spent a season-and-a-half at Paris Saint-Germain prior to his sacking at the end of last season.
The Argentine has been out of football for 10 months, despite having led PSG to the Ligue 1 title in his one full season at the helm. His failures with the club on the European stage ultimately sealed his fate in Paris.
Conte’s exit at Spurs came after his remarkable post-match press conference following the 3-3 draw with Southampton last weekend. The North London club confirmed Cristian Stellini will be their acting head coach for the remainder of the season, with Ryan Mason his assistant.
Pochettino – whose family has been residing in London – has now posted on his Instagram account that he has returned from a holiday in Japan amid speculation that he could make a sensational return to the Premier League.
Pochettino is a leading candidate to return to Spurs – the club who dismissed him in November 2019. That was with Tottenham languishing in 14th in the Premier League – albeit just six points off the top five – and less than six months after he had led the club to their first-ever Champions League final.
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He had been in charge at Spurs for five-and-a-half seasons and led the club to three successive top three league finishes – including second spot in the 2016/17 campaign – alongside his exploits in Europe in his final campaign at the helm.
Pochettino was appointed as PSG boss in January 2021, replacing the dismissed Thomas Tuchel, and within two weeks had won the first trophy of his coaching career – guiding his side to the Trophée des Champions by defeating Marseille. Despite defeating Monaco in the Coupe de France final, the campaign was not remembered fondly as PSG were surprisingly beaten to the Ligue 1 title by huge outsiders Lille.
The Argentine led PSG to the Coupe de France during his first half-season and followed that up by winning the first league title of his managerial career last season, but it was not enough to make up for the team's European failure – as they exited in the Round of 16 against Real Madrid after tossing away a 2-0 aggregate lead.
Pochettino was booed by large sections of the PSG crowd when his name was read out ahead of kick-off at a Ligue 1 clash during the campaign amid reports that he would leave the club. It followed a major supporters' protest at a Ligue 1 clash against Rennes in which they blasted the 'overpaid mercenaries' on their books and attacked the board, with Pochettino not escaping their ire.