Mauricio Pochettino is highly rated by Manchester United’s co-owners Ineos, who tried to appoint him as Nice manager after he left Paris Saint Germain.
Chelsea announced Pochettino’s departure on Tuesday evening following an end of season review with the club’s hierarchy, which resulted in the Argentine leaving by mutual consent.
The 52-year-old was only in charge at Stamford Bridge for a season, and despite a poor first half of the campaign, which started with just three wins in the first ten league games, Pochettino turned things around and the Blues finished with five wins in a row to secure a top six finish and a return to European competition.
Pochettino has admirers at Manchester United
Despite only leaving Chelsea on Tuesday Pochettino is believed to be ready to get straight back into work.
Whether the former Tottenham manager would be prepared to join Manchester United is another question, but the Argentine has been linked to the Old Trafford hot seat in the past.
Erik ten Hag is under huge pressure at United and this weekend’s FA Cup final against Manchester City could be his final game in charge following a dire campaign which saw United finish eighth.
A number of names have been linked with United including the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Gareth Southgate, with Roberto De Zerbi and Pochettino touted as possibilities more recently.
Mail Sport report Ineos have had contact with Pochettino before when he was out of work following his departure from Paris Saint Germain.
The report adds at the time Pochettino ticked a number of boxes for Ineos given he spoke French and had a Premier League background.
Mail Sport state the Argentine had a number of conversations with Sir Dave Brailsford about taking over at Nice and presented him with plans on how they were going to overhaul PSG.
Ultimately Pochettino wasn’t convinced and didn’t end up receiving an offer from Nice, but if they dispose of Ten Hag it will be interesting to see how they view Pochettino nearly two years down the line.