The news is already reverberating that Manchester United are seriously planning to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager this summer – but the caveat is that a big-name star has to be part of the swap and ready to depart for the French capital in return.
The 49-year-old Argentine is again hotly linked with the Old Trafford hotseat despite having just ‘celebrated’ his one-year anniversary at the Parc des Princes, with news long buzzing that all does not seem well and constantly emerging reports indicate a parting of ways could well be on the cards.
Not all has gone well for Pochettino in France despite the Parisians being 10 points clear in the Ligue 1 summit. For one, they lost out in the Ligue 1 title race last season to surprise winners Lille. This was then followed up by their loss in the Champions League to Manchester City who overcame them in the semi-finals, despite having the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in their ranks, together with a host of other stellar players.
Adding insult to injury, they were recently eliminated from this season’s French Cup, losing to Nice on penalties. The news is now circling that with a Champions League round-of-16 clash against Real Madrid around the corner, reports claim Pochettino could be shown the exit were they to lose.
In short it’s been a roller-coaster spell for Pochettino helming the capital club this one year. Besides having to contend with all the news regarding Mbappe’s future, he’s also had to cope with all the big egos in the PSG dressing room.
Things have been coming to a boil at PSG and reports this week say the Argentine manager has about ‘had enough’ of his life in the Parisian capital, with claims that he feels he has been forced to work in extremely high-pressure conditions that continually test him, not to mention the constant criticism of his management that he feels is wholly unfair.
The discontentment seems to have spilled over and reports linking Pochettino to United appear to be growing louder by the day, with the Daily Mirror claiming PSG are in favor of the deal going ahead. The caveat, in lieu of compensation, is that Ronaldo has to be ready to move to Paris.
Not that this can’t happen as the paper claims Ronaldo is open to leaving Old Trafford this summer and although his contract runs until 2023, the Portuguese superstar is ‘frustrated with life’ back in Manchester as things have not quite gone according to plan for both him and the club.
His having scored 14 goals so far in his second spell with the Red Devils has not sealed his role as the savior of the club and they are currently battling the resurgent squads of Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham to finish fourth in the league. Not that this is by any means an easily accomplished task as they have just only been ignominiously eliminated from the FA Cup and the even more elusive Champions League remains their last hope of silverware. This, of course, is another Holy Grail quest as far they are concerned, given United’s current form.
As such, the Mirror claims a move to Paris looks to be on the cards for the Portuguese striker, which could be an ideal situation for all parties involved as the Parisians are desperate for another big-name attacker since it has been more than rumored that Mbappe has already agreed terms with Real Madrid with a humongous wage package already supposedly agreed on.
This latest development could be the one that will open the door on the dream scenario of Ronaldo pairing up with long-term adversary Lionel Messi.
In addition, Paris also look likely to appoint Zinedine Zidane as coach in succession to Pochettino. And the two men enjoyed a great understanding during their time together at Real Madrid. As such, the report claims that will prove a further lure to Ronaldo.