Mauricio Pochettino has been without a club since November last year after being sacked by Tottenham, despite five successful seasons with the north London club, where under his leadership, the club was transformed from a decent Premier League team into one of the best in Europe.
It is reported that in recent months the Argentinian manager has turned down offers from many clubs including Monaco and Benfica in the hope to sign a long-term deal with a top level club.
Two of those clubs who are seriously considering manager replacement in the coming month, are Juventus and Barcelona.
Juve Chairman Andrea Agnelli needs to find a replacement for Maurizio Sarri, even though the 61-year-old has lead the Bianconeri to their ninth consecutive title in Seria A. The failure of Juventus to progress in the Champions League, following their defeat to Lyon, coupled with a poor post-lockdown period in Serie A for his side, has accelerated his departure.
Pochettino is one of the main targets on Agnelli’s list despite the fact that the Argentinian has never played nor coached In Italy. He does however have Italian ancestry, and his great Grandfather left Piemonte, the area including Turin, to come to Argentina.
The reported debt of nearly 500 million euros of the Italian champion could be a serious obstacle in achieving Agnelli’s goals, who alternatively could have to turn to his old “friends” Antonio Conte or Massimiliano Allegri.
On the other hand it seems like Barcelona has everything set for signing Pochettino on a long term deal. The current manager Quique Setien failed to deliver the title in La Liga and his stay on Camp Nou will not last much longer even if the Catalans win the UEFA Champions League.
Fans however still remember Pochettino’s statement that he would rather work on any farm in Argentina than coach Barcelona, because of his 10 years playing for their city rival Espanyol where he also begun his coaching career.
Despite what has been said, it is not a secret that Pochettino is really close to Barcelona star Leo Messi, and was reportedly trying to bring him to Tottenham in 2017 when his fellow countryman was considering leaving La Liga. Three years later it seems like it is the perfect time for the two Argentinians to finally work together.
Pochettino’s football style perfectly fits Barcelona whose mix of experience and youth would be great ingredients for success. The 48-year-old manager has shown that he is able to do great things even with less talented squads and given the fact that the Catalans have plenty of it, the collaboration between the two parties seems like the real recipe for winning big.
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