Mauricio Pochettino has emerged on all fronts as the leading candidate to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United although the Red Devils are well aware of the complications involved in appointing him, based on past incidents that had occurred in the Premier League when the Argentine gaffer was still with Tottenham.
It would not have been impossible to visualise how in an alternate reality Mauricio Pochettino could now well be the Man United manager after a brief interlude under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Jose Mourinho’s acrimonious exit as the United legend and icon Sir Alex Ferguson had always been truly fond of the Argentine and had long set his sights on Poch being his successor at Old Trafford.
However faith saw it fit to intervene then and Solskjaer’s impressive run of 14 wins in 19 games after his caretaker appointment in 2018 instead forced United’s hand and the unquestionably more credible candidate, at that point in time, was overlooked.
To reiterate, United’s admiration for Pochettino had been long-standing and hence it clearly comes as no surprise at all that the PSG boss has been hotly earmarked as the leading candidate in contention to finally replace Solskjaer as the permanent manager of United. However, this said, the Red Devils are all too aware of the pitfalls associated with prising an elite coach away from the grips of obdurate owners as, even before Solskjaer had taken over as permanent coach at United, the club had already been sourcing replacements for Mourinho without even having to look far for their number one target.
With the seeds that had already been sown – after Pochettino’s lunch date with Sir Alex Ferguson at a London restaurant two years earlier – long germinating, the club’s interest in the Argentine boss is certainly more than cursory and is in fact deep-rooted. Although Pochettino was at that time totally invested with building a special project under financial constraints at Tottenham, United, or more appropriately Sir Alex, decided to test the waters.
And as things turned out, prising away a manager from a club with grand ambitions of their own posed more than a few problems even then and could well be a challenge repeating itself once again in the present. The Mirror reported in January 2019 that even if Pochettino did indicate his desire to join United, there would be no guarantees then that the Red Devils would get their man, due primarily to Spurs supremo Daniel Levy slapping a heavy £50m transfer tag on Pochettino as the club was aghast at the idea of losing their manager to their direct rival.
In the end United dropped their pursuit of Pochettino, still bereft of trophies three years later and approaching a miserable ten years without having mounted a serious title challenge. Instead, £38m had been squandered sacking four permanent managers since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as the boss in 2013.
Pochettino is currently still the most attractive target for the club as news has it that he has yet to be fully settled in at Paris Saint-Germain despite PSG seemingly already coasting to a Ligue 1 title to deliver the first piece of silverware for Pochettino as a manager. However the reality of the situation is that performances aren’t hitting the mark to match the high expectations of the club’s Qatari owners after the lavish expenditure to land the services of literally the best players in the world like Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giorginio Wijnaldum and others to boost their squad that already boast the world-beating likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Ander Herrera, just to name a few.
Understandably, a return to the Premier League at a club where success doesn’t hinge exclusively on European glory with nothing less than the Champions League trophy is obviously enticing. Additionally, Pochettino casting his sights wistfully at United would make perfect sense on both sides now given the availability of serial Champions League- winning specialist Zinedine Zidane as a replacement for the Argentine. Yet, not unlike Spurs and their obstinate chairman Levy, PSG could hardly be expected to just roll over and let United have their man. After all, Pochettino’s contract extension was triggered when Tottenham was keen to reappoint him last May after showing Mourinho the exit.
Furthermore, PSG would certainly take it as a slight on their growing status as a new European football heavyweight if they were to so easily allow their head coach were to ditch them for United, a club all this while hapless and helplessly in free fall since Sir Alex retired.
The French juggernauts have shown their grit and determination in their resolute handling of Kylian Mbappe’s relentless pursuit by an egomaniac from the LaLiga, so they can certainly be expected to put up no less resistance for Pochettino now, or at the end of the season. The resolve of the Parc des Princes club is certainly admirable, though some would say stupid, as Real Madrid’s offer was allegedly worth around £172m but was unconditionally rejected without any further ado in the summer, despite the fact their wantaway young superstar could leave on a free next year. The Parisian club cooly spurned the opportunity of a mammoth transfer fee so that the club could press pedal to the metal to achieve their Champions League ambitions with the attacking trident of Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi.
PSG are accustomed to having their own way, as they well should. And when a belligerent United actually do come knocking on the door this time around, all bets are on that a resolute response can be expected.