Fabrizio Romano has provided insight into Mauricio Pochettino’s situation after being considered for both the Manchester United and Chelsea jobs in recent months.
The former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager has long been highly regarded in the game, but he didn’t have the most convincing spell at PSG, and has now been overlooked by two of the Premier League’s biggest clubs in just under a year.
Writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Romano gave some insight into how close Pochettino was to the Man Utd job before Erik ten Hag got the nod, while he suggested Graham Potter was always the clear favourite to replace Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
“Mauricio Pochettino has been proposed to Chelsea as a possible new manager but even those close to him now believe Potter is favoured for the job,” Romano explained.
“The Argentine is a big name who is always likely to be mentioned when a top job becomes available, but my understanding is that he has never been close to Chelsea so far, just a few approaches.
“Manchester United also considered Pochettino and held talks with him in November and December, but Erik ten Hag was chosen as the man with whom to build a long-term rather than a short-term project.”
Pochettino will surely get a big job before too long, but it’s interesting that both United and Chelsea decided to go for other options.
This suggests there must be something about the 50-year-old that hasn’t entirely convinced these teams, despite his tremendous work at Spurs.
So far, it’s going well for Ten Hag at Old Trafford, but Potter is perhaps more of a gamble given that he has not yet worked at a truly big club with major expectations, or with the egos he’ll surely come across in the Chelsea dressing room.
Manchester United should make signing Joao Felix and Jude Bellingham in January or at the end of the season top priority.
Hopefully Manchester United’s season ends successful and with Champions League participation in the 2022-2023 season, the two recruits will agree to come and play for the club to achieve success.