Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he is in no rush to jump back into management, explaining it was always his plan to wait until after the World Cup.
The former Tottenham manager has been out of work since the summer, when he left Paris Saint-Germain. The 50-year-old won Ligue 1 with PSG in the 2021-22 season, but that was not enough to keep him in charge after the French side fell short in the Champions League.
Pochettino reached the Champions League final with Tottenham in 2019, and has been mentioned in connection with some Premier League vacancies. However, as he explained to Gary Lineker during his role as a World Cup pundit for the BBC, he is still young in managerial terms and is taking his time.
"I am still so young!" Pochettino told Lineker on the BBC's World Cup coverage. The Argentine was on punditry duty for Spain's group stage clash against Germany, where the points were shared after both teams netted in the second half. Alvaro Morata opened the scoring for Spain, only for Niclas Fullkrug to deliver an equaliser for Hansi Flick's Germany.
"After Paris we decide to wait until after the World Cup," Pochettino added. "Paris was a tough experience, a great experience, but tough, and you need to process every single thing (when making a decision).
The comments come after Pochettino emerged as one of the contenders to take over at Manchester United over the summer. He missed out to Erik ten Hag on that occasion, but has since hinted he may have another opportunity to take charge at Old Trafford.
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"Football is timing," Pochettino told Radio Marca. "It’s the moments for it to coincide and for that marriage to happen. Sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. I don’t believe that trains pass just once.”
In five seasons as Tottenham manager, Pochettino secured four top-four finishes. The London club finished second in the 2016-17 season, with Chelsea beating them to the league title, but were down in the bottom half of the table when the manager was dismissed 12 games into the 2019-20 campaign.
The former Southampton boss has been linked with a number of vacant jobs this season, but has been biding his time. Aston Villa considered Pochettino before settling on Unai Emery, while Villarreal - Emery's former club - also sounded out the manager with no success.
Villarreal instead turned to Quique Setien, the former Barcelona boss who had been out of management since a momentous 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 Champions League. The Spanish side lost their first two games under their new boss before claiming a first victory under Setien against another of Pochettino's former clubs, Espanyol.
