Transfer Talk: is Pochettino set for a return to management?

Mauricio Pochettino could be set for a surprise return to management.

The former Tottenham boss has been out of work since he was fired by Paris Saint-Germain in July, the latest in a long line of managers to lose their job after the club failed to reach the latter stages of the Champions League.

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The 50-year old Argentine was briefly linked with the Chelsea job when it became available before the West London club made the decision to poach Graham Potter from Brighton instead. Pochettino’s appointment, though, would not have been welcomed by the Chelsea fans because of his previous affiliations with hated London rivals Tottenham.

But now he has been linked with Ligue 1 side Nice, who are owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, who also made a late bid to buy Chelsea.

Ironically, it was the man who replaced Pochettino as PSG head coach, Christophe Galtier, who was in charge of the South French club last season, guiding them to a fifth place finish and a disappointing defeat in the French Cup final to Nantes.

With Galtier tempted away to Paris, Lucien Favre returned for the second time, having previously left the club in 2018 after two seasons in charge, during which they finished third and eighth respectively.

Favre promised to make the team more exciting than they were under Galtier, who was accused of being too predictable stylistically at time. And he was backed in the transfer market, with winger Sofiane Diop signed from Monaco for €22 million, whilst Kasper Schmeichel and Aaron Ramsey both joined the club on free transfers.

But the club has begun the season badly, and are currently 12^th in Ligue 1, having won just two games in the league so far, and are currently just two points above the relegation zone.

A home defeat to Angers on Sunday increased the pressure on Favre, not helped by losing defender Jean-Clair Todibo who received one of the fastest red cards in the history of the game. Just nine seconds had elapsed from the start of the match when he hauled down Abdallah Sima in the box, with the referee judging it a professional foul.

Now the Nice board appear to have decided that time has run out for Favre, and officials from the club are to meet with Pochettino to discuss him making a move to the South of France. It has been reported that the club will be able to meet his salary demands.

If he is appointed, the Argentine will be hoping this is a chance to rebuild a reputation burnished by his achievements at Tottenham, whom he took to the final of the Champions League in 2019.

At various stages, mentioned in the same breath as many of the big clubs in Europe, including Real Madrid and Manchester United, it was a surprise when Spurs let him go a few months later after a disappointing string  of results, and it would be more than a year before he was offered the PSG job.

He did win the French Cup and the Ligue One title during his time in Paris, but that is seen as a minimal requirement by the club’s Qatari owners, and their round of 16 exit to Real Madrid in the Champions League ultimately cost him dear.

At least, if he does take over at Nice, he is unlikely to find the same egos in the dressing room he had to contend with in his old job.