Mauricio Pochettino is nearing a deal to become Chelsea’s next manager, having recently admitted to “missing” football.
Should the Argentine complete his move to Stamford Bridge for the new season, it will have been a year since his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, a spell which he has described as “a great experience, but tough”.
The 51-year-old has been enjoying family time along with the occasional punditry work during his sabbatical, which he detailed during the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup as he spelled out his “need to process every single thing” about his short PSG tenure.
Talk of a summer switch to Real Madrid has also arisen but Los Blancos are yet to decide on the fate of Carlo Ancelotti, while Tottenham have not made an approach for a return to north London.
In November of last year, Pochettino told Radio Marca: “Football is timing. These are the moments for it to coincide and for that marriage to happen. Sometimes it’s just a matter of time.
“I don’t believe in trains passing only once. I think that sometimes you have to have the necessary patience and you have to know how to wait. The ‘timing’ is handled by football, it is true that my name has always been associated with big clubs.
“I have a lot of respect for professionals and it’s hard for me to sell myself, that’s work for you. That routine that is generated when you are at work is created as a result of the adrenaline of day to day. You miss it.
“Now what we do is get together, Zoom, eat with the family and talk about the great debates that we generate. That is missed. But at the same time we do things that when you are immersed in the battle of work we cannot do. Being with family heals a lot.”
As the former Spurs and Southampton boss, Pochettino’s comments from November 2018 show his admiration for the job done under ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
“In the last ten years I think Chelsea have been so impressive with [Jose] Mourinho, [Antonio] Conte and they won titles,” the manager stated.
On Maurizio Sarri’s side of that year, he added: “I am not surprised because Chelsea have an unbelievable squad and players. This summer they invested. They signed players, quality players and they added to the squad. But it's normal, they have one point more than us. It's not surprised me that they're doing very well.”
