Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino said he is open to returning to the Premier League and managing a team outside of the top six amid links to Newcastle United. (More Football News)
Mauricio Pochettino said he is open to returning to the Premier League and managing a team outside of the top six amid links to Newcastle United
Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino said he is open to returning to the Premier League and managing a team outside of the top six amid links to Newcastle United. (More Football News)
Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham in November following a difficult start to the 2019-20 campaign, despite leading Spurs to last season's Champions League final.
The 48-year-old – previously linked to Manchester United and Real Madrid – has emerged as a target for Newcastle and their prospective Saudi-backed owners.
"I love England," Pochettino told Sky Sports News. "My idea is to keep living in London but at the same time, I am open to different countries, to listen and see what happens.
"I am ready and we are a much better coaching staff now. We have learnt a lot from our experiences at Espanyol, Southampton and Tottenham. We have a lot to provide to the people that will trust in us in the future."
Pochettino added: "I need to behave in the way that I did on my first day as a coach. There are two things that are most important - one is the people, the fans that are behind every club. That is the structure that keeps alive all the companies that provide the entertainment that is football. The other is the ideas of the clubs.
"Every single club and company have different cultures, different philosophies, different ways of working. They all have different plans for success.
"To be successful at one club you need to win the Champions League or Premier League, but for others it is to finish in the top four or six. For Tottenham, it was to build a new stadium and at the same time create a team to compete and cut the gap to the top four.
"Every single club has different aims and you as a coaching staff need to stick to these ideas. In the end, when we are waiting for a new offer, and we are capable of providing what a club expects from us, we are going to be very happy."
"The problem is which clubs are top six?" he replies. "The top six always changes. Tottenham is not in the top six, Arsenal is not in the top six.
"You need to respect all the clubs. All the clubs are working so hard and investing money. Every season clubs have ambition to be top six or top four. I don't think you can underestimate any club."
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Pochettino said: "We are going to live a completely different era in football that we need to discover. How are these clubs or companies, because that's what they are, going to be after this virus hopefully disappears? It's a big question mark.
"That's why it's so difficult to know what project is going to be the right project. We are a coaching staff that are very receptive to listen to all the projects, all the people. We can learn from every single conversation and maybe we can see a motivation to go with them."