Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Andy Ha & Joe Doyle

What Mauricio Pochettino said about managing Barcelona after Tottenham exit amid contact rumours

Mauricio Pochettino's future is again a hot topic after the former Tottenham manager has been linked with Barcelona and Manchester United.

Pochettino was sacked by Spurs in November following a poor run of form which left the North London side 12 points adrift of the top four, with Jose Mourinho arriving as his replacement.

It ended a five-year stay at Spurs for the former Argentina international, who arrived from Southampton in 2014.

And with pressure mounting, the 47-year-old is in high demand.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as interim Manchester United manager in December 2018, with a stunning run of results leading to his permanent appointment in March of last year.

Jose Mourinho on when Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies could return

However, since then results have been less than stellar. United have performed well against their top four rivals, but have struggled against the rest of the league's opposition.

Despite Solskjaer's job seemingly being safe with the board at Old Trafford for the long haul, Pochettino is regularly linked with the job, and a further downturn in results would only see that speculation increase.

Meanwhile, Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has been under pressure for some time, with the Spanish side failing to make headway in the Champions League under his reign.

Despite beating Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of last year's Champions League semi-final, the Spanish giants crumbled at Anfield, losing 4-0 when the pressure was on.

Despite winning the last two La Liga titles, the manager looks set to be sacked, with a board meeting set to take place on Monday afternoon, where it is expected he will be dismissed.

Pochettino (among others) has also been linked with the manager's job at Camp Nou, but reports state that former Barca players Xavi and Ronald Koeman have both turned down approached from the Spanish giants.

Spanish outlet AS state that Barca have made an approach to Pochettino about possibly taking over at Camp Nou.

But former Spurs boss Pochettino previously said that he would never manage Barcelona or Spurs' north London rivals Arsenal.

"I would never train Barcelona or Arsenal because I am tied to Tottenham. I grew up at Newell's and I would never train Rosario Central," he said.

The former Espanyol manager added that he would prefer to quit coaching than to coach Barcelona or any of the other teams.

"This is my decision. I would prefer to work on my farm in Argentina than to go and work in certain places."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.