Still pretty unlikely, to be fair
Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that he could leave Tottenham Hotspur if they win the Champions League this season.
Spurs will play Ajax in the second leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday night, trailing by one goal after Donny van de Beek put the Dutch side ahead in the first leg.
While there is just the one goal currently separating the sides, Spurs face a tough task in turning the tie around, with several injuries limiting Pochettino’s options regarding team selection and this youthful Ajax side full of energy and confidence, having already slayed two giants of European football already this season.
But it is possible. Tottenham have knocked out Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City this season, who’s to say they can’t do the same against Ajax and (probably) Barcelona?
If they were to pull off this feat, it would be a fitting reward for the miraculous work Pochettino has done in his five years at Tottenham, and would seemingly signal the end of his reign at the club.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the Ajax tie, the Argentine manager denied that his pledge to ‘go home’ if Spurs won the Champions League was a joke.
“It’s not a joke, why?” he said, bemused by the assertion.
To clarify, the reporter then asked whether lifting the Champions League trophy this June would be his work done.
“Yes, or maybe I sit with Daniel [Levy]…..
“To win the Champions League with Tottenham, in this circumstance, this season, maybe I need to think a little bit, to do something different in the future. For sure.”
Mauricio Pochettino has suggested he could leave #thfc should the club win the @ChampionsLeague this season. [@HaytersTV] pic.twitter.com/QpnZtD0I7w
— Hotspur Related (@HotspurRelated) May 7, 2019
It’s not clear exactly what Pochettino meant by something different, and it’s unlikely that Spurs will go on to lift the trophy this season.
But a cynic might infer his comments as a reminder to Manchester United that it’s not too late for them to cut their losses with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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