Mauricio Pochettino is on the verge of replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel at French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint Germain, according to a series of viral reports.
The 48-year-old Argentine football tactician was lined up for the vacate position immediately after Thomas Tuchel was sacked on Thursday.
Reports say the negotiations between Mauricio Pochettino and the representatives of PSG have reached an advanced stage and the former Tottenham Hotspur coach who has been jobless for over a year might land his first job in over 13 months.
Recall that Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019 due to poor run games. His sack came months after he guided the Premier League club to the final of the 2018-2019 Champions League campaign.
Since then, he has been linked with a move to a couple of clubs including Manchester United and Juventus but all were based on speculations.
Mauricio Pochettino has reached an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain, confirmed. Now it’s time to prepare the contracts, sort out the last details [as the choice of the techincal staff] and sign.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 24, 2020
Here-we-go soon! The new era is starting 🇫🇷🤝 #PSG #Pochettino https://t.co/VVEGCphwBB
As for Thomas Tuchel, his case was almost similar to the fate Mauricio Pochettino suffered at Tottenham Hotspur. PSG had to let Tuchel go despite guiding the club to their first UEFA Champions League final in August 2020. They lost the final to German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.
Besides that, Tuchel led the club to win the 2019-2020 French Ligue 1 title but the board of the club is said not to be happy with him because he publicly comment about the club’s transfer policy. Tuchel reportedly questioned why the club would always allow players to exit the club on a free transfer.
He said such practice usually affects the form of the squad, adding that it would be difficult for the current crop of players to do what they did last season because of the players that had left the club during the 2020 summer transfer window.
After making this submission, PSG’s sporting director Leonardo reportedly slammed Tuchel, urging him to respect the people above him at the club.
“I didn’t like his comments, the club didn’t like them either,” Leonardo said.
“We have to understand the moment we are going through. If someone is not happy, it is easy – we can talk. But if you decide to stay, you have to respect the people above you.”
Though the fallout is believed to be the reason why Thomas Tuchel was sacked, PSG’s poor run of games could be a huge contributing factor. Currently, PSG is sitting on the third spot on the league table with 35 points in 17 league games.
Tuchel led PSG to four defeats, two draws, and 11 league victories before he was sacked. Hence, Mauricio Pochettino is expected to join PSG and attempt to change the fortunes of the club and probably win the UEFA Champions League title which is one of the major titles the club is yet to win in the club’s history.
