Pochettino plays down Spurs return rumours
AFP | Washington
USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino has played down rumors linking him with the vacant managerial position at his former club Tottenham Hotspur, following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou on Friday.
Argentine Pochettino was in charge of Spurs for five years from 2014 and took the team to the Champions League final but never won a trophy with the North London club.
Despite having signed a two year contract in September to lead the USA at the 2026 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino's name has appeared in bookmakers' lists of favourites for the Spurs job and in several UK reports.
But asked on Saturday about the links, in his post-match press conference following the USA's 2-1 home friendly defeat to Turkey, Pochettino played down the talk.
'After I left in 2019, every time that I was free, and the place of the position of the manager or head coach in Tottenham Hotspur (was vacant), my name is appearing on the list,' Pochettino said.
'If you have seen the rumours, I think there are 100 coaches in the list. I think, don't be worried about that,' he added.
Pochettino has talked in the past about his remaining affection for Spurs and has never ruled out the possibility of returning to the club at some point.
But he suggested the timing was not right for a second chance with his old team.
'If something happened, you for sure you will see, but we cannot talk about this type of thing, because I think today, it's not real. It's not realistic. And look at where I am, where we are,' he said in the stadium press room in Hartford, Connecticut.
'And the thing is, the answer is so clear, no? But we're talking about it because it's my club, like Newells or Espanyol,' he added.
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