As Antonio Conte's time as Tottenham manager appears to be nearing its conclusion, Mauricio Pochettino has been heavily linked to make a sensational return to the Spurs dugout. The Argentine was adored by the Tottenham faithful during his largely-productive five-and-a-half spell in north London, culminating in leading his side out for the 2019 Champions League final.
However, Pochettino was shown the door just six months later to be replaced by Jose Mourinho. A further two permanent managers down the line and the 51-year-old, who had since taken charge of Paris Saint-Germain before being sacked in July 2022, may be identified as the man to rejuvenate the whole club following Conte's extraordinary post-match rant last Saturday.
That being said, Pochettino has dropped a hint suggesting he hasn't spoken to Daniel Levy despite reports claiming the Spurs chairman has been lining up possible replacements during the international break. Posting on his Instagram Stories, Pochettino shared a photo of him and his family out and about in Tokyo.
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Captioning the image "Tokyo time", he tagged his son Sebastiano, who was Tottenham's first team sports scientist while his father was in the hot seat. Pochettino being out of the country perhaps indicates Levy hasn't spoken to his former employee about a possible return just yet, but it is understood the image was shared as Pochettino was making his way back into Europe from Japan.
In the years following his exit, Pochettino has not held back when explaining his love for Tottenham and his eventual desire to return. In April 2020, he told BT Sport: “Deep in my chest, my soul, my heart - I am sure that we will cross [paths] again.
"From the day that I left the club, my dream is to be back and to try to finish the work that we didn't finish. We were so close to winning the right trophies, the Premier League and the Champions League.
"Maybe in five years, maybe in 10 years, and now I'm going to conspire with the universe and to throw out the idea that before I die, I want to manage Tottenham again and try if possible to win one title.”
Roughly two years later, while managing Paris Saint-Germain he told Rio Ferdinand that he still thought of Tottenham as "his club", further proving that he wishes to return. “I still feel that it's my club, my place,” he said.
“I think when you really feel with the commitment and when you feel the people give everything to try to be successful, and they treat you really, really good how they treat us, it's impossible to forget that. That is why I think Tottenham is always going to be a special club for me."
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