PSG, Real Madrid, Tottenham or Juventus: What next for Mauricio Pochettino?

*Since this article was published Man Utd have announced the appointment of Erik ten Hag*

Erik ten Hag is expected to become the new permanent manager of Manchester United this summer.

Locked in a two-horse race with Mauricio Pochettino, it’s being widely reported that the Ajax manager has come out on top. As a result, betting on the market has been suspended with the likes of Paddy Power, Betfair, and William Hill.

So, what does this set-back mean for the future of Pochettino?

Will he now stay at current club PSG, or still seek a summer move elsewhere? We've taken a look at the Argentine’s options below…

Stay at PSG

In January 2021 Pochettino initially signed an 18-month contract PSG. This was extended by a year last summer, meaning he's now contracted until June 2023.

In his first half-a-season Pochettino reached the Champions League semi-finals after he beat Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He also won the first silverware of his managerial career in the form of the Trophée des Champions and Coupe de France. However, he failed to win the league title.

Pochettino is now set to add Ligue 1 gold to his CV - PSG are 12 points clear with eight games remaining - but lost in the last-16 of both the Champions League and Coupe de France, while his side were defeated by Lille in the Trophée des Champions. Remember, simply winning the league isn’t deemed sufficient at PSG.

In the last few weeks it became increasingly apparent that, in regards to the Man Utd job, PSG wouldn’t stand in Pochettino’s way. However, given the latest news, Pochettino seems to have missed out on the Old Trafford job.

It will therefore be interesting to see what happens this summer, with the long-linked Zinedine Zidane odds-on to replace Pochettino if he does leave Paris. Marcelo Gallardo and Antonio Conte also feature in the next PSG manager market.

But with Zidane reportedly waiting it out for the France job - available after the 2022 World Cup - and both Gallardo and Conte contracted to River Plate and Spurs respectively, it wouldn’t exactly be a huge shock if Pochettino did in fact remain at the Parc des Princes.

Real Madrid

Man Utd always appeared to be Pochettino’s preferred choice should he wish to leave PSG this summer, but what about Real Madrid?

It’s a club that Pochettino has long been linked with and would surely be bang in the mix for if a job did crop up.

At points this season it did look likely that Los Blancos could opt to part ways with Carlo Ancelotti this summer, with the Italian originally viewed by some as a stop-gap following Zidane’s exit. 

Yet a premature Bernabeu departure appears increasingly unlikely given that the veteran boss is now flourishing in his second spell.

Not only is Ancelotti on the cusp of winning the league, he has his troops purring in his beloved Champions League; a competition he’s won a joint-record three times.

Ancelotti conjured up a thrilling comeback in the last round against Pochettino’s PSG and has since whipped up a superb 3-1 win at the home of defending champions Chelsea.

A recent 4-0 home defeat by rivals Barcelona did raise eyebrows though.

Meanwhile, even if Real Madrid do decide to change managers this summer, there’s no guarantee that the 5/1-priced Pochettino would be nailed on for the post, with club legend Raul the 6/4 favourite in the betting.

Tottenham

While there’s numerous Tottenham fans who would no doubt love Pochettino to return for a second spell in the future, there’s surely only a handful who would welcome a comeback this very summer, given that Spurs already have an elite manager on the books in Antonio Conte.

Since replacing Nuno Santo in November, Conte hasn’t had everything his own way. He’s a hugely passionate and emotional manager who doesn’t hold back, on the touchline or in interviews. He always says what’s on his mind, regardless of the consequences: He even looked ready to leave after a defeat to Burnley in February.

Fast-forward six weeks and Tottenham are enjoying their best patch of form this season. They’ve won five of their last six league games, they are playing exciting football, the goals are flowing, and they currently occupy 4th spot. 

Conte’s methods are coming to fruition and there’s a real excitement about what the future holds, even if the club do miss out on the Champions League.

So, while we can’t completely rule out a summer exit if the serial-winner doesn’t get his own way in the transfer market - PSG will no doubt be monitoring the situation closely - it would be a surprise if the Italian did depart.

One day we’ll surely see Pochettino back in North London, just not yet.

Juventus

A costly defeat at home to defending champions Inter Milan appears to have ended Juventus’ hopes of reclaiming the Serie A title. Instead, they face a fight just to secure a top-four finish. It would be a disaster if they didn’t.

“I think that from now on we can say that we are definitively out of the race for the Scudetto, and we have to think about holding onto fourth place,” Max Allegri said. “We’ll think about the Scudetto in the upcoming season.”

It’s fair to say that the return of Allegri last summer has not quite gone to plan. Not only have the Old Lady’s title hopes dwindled but they lost to the same opponents in the Supercoppa Italiana at the start of the year, and were stunned by Villarreal in the Champions League last-16. They do, however, remain in contention to win the Coppa Italia.

This will be the first time that Allegri has failed to win Juventus the title - he won five successive Scudettos in his first spell - however, he doesn’t appear to be under any immediate pressure despite losing key league and European games in the last few weeks. It was always going to be a transitional season following his return last summer.

A sudden move for Pochettino does therefore appear unlikely, but should Juventus end the season trophyless - or out of the Champions League places - then Juventus could well change managers for the fourth straight summer.

Pochettino, then a free agent, was linked with Juventus in 2020 but in the end it was rookie boss Pirlo who was appointed for what turned out to be a disappointing single season.