Mauricio Pochettino ha been linked to a number of clubs in recent times. Barcelona shockingly seems to be on the clubs with Pochettino tipped to be the favourite man for Barcelona’s next manager despite previously insisting he would never go there. Ernesto Valverde is under pressure at the LaLiga club and is said to have fallen off with the owners. Despite topping the league, and being through to the Champions League knockout stages this isn’t enough to secure Valverde a spell till the end of the season.
Valverde, who has many accolades to his name at the La Liga giants, won back to back league titles, but has so far failed to win Europe’s elite club competition, losing out to Liverpool in the semi-final last year. Barcelona also clashed out of the Spanish Super Cup by a surprise defeat in the hands of Atletico Madrid.
A series of poor displays have reportedly left bosses frustrated at the Catalan club and he could be fired Any moment from now. Club legend Xavi had been touted as a replacement with reports over the weekend suggesting a deal had been struck. The deal apparently must have not gone according to plan as Xavi will remain at current club Al Sadd in Qatar.
Pochettino’s previous comments about the possibility of managing Barcelona would suggest that he is unlikely to take the position. The 47-year-old played for and managed rivals Espanyol.
“I would never train Barcelona or Arsenal because I am tied to Tottenham. I grew up at Newell’s and I would never train Rosario Central,” he said while at Spurs.
He added that he would prefer to quit coaching than to coach Barcelona or any of the other teams. “This is my decision. I would prefer to work on my farm in Argentina than to go and work in certain places.”
Opinions do change, though, and opportunities at one of Europe’s most historic clubs rarely comes around.
