Mauricio Pochettino is still a fan favourite at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Argentine did a remarkable job when he was the Spurs boss. Yes, he didn’t win a trophy, but he helped the club compete with the best consistently.
Tottenham now need a new manager again, and TBR Football revealed in April that Pochettino is in contention to return to Spurs.
Daniel Levy needs to replace Ange Postecoglou after sacking him, and Pochettino will be welcomed back with open arms by many fans.
But, it will not be easy.
Daniel Levy will have to pay a fortune to bring Mauricio Pochettino back to Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham in 2019.
The Argentine, hailed as ‘unbelievable‘ by Postecoglou, has since managed Paris Saint-Germain in France and Chelsea here in the Premier League at club level. He then agreed to take charge of the United States Men’s National Team.
Pochettino is under contract in the USA until the summer of 2026. He was appointed to lead the Americans into the next FIFA World Cup.
However, with Tottenham now in need of a new manager to replace Postecoglou, who was sacked on Friday, Spurs could consider trying to bring their old boss back.
BBC Sport have shared what they have heard on that front, and it has been revealed that Spurs will have to break the bank if they want Pochettino to become their next manager.
‘The report claims that it would take a huge compensation package – one of the ‘biggest in football history’ – to convince the USMNT to release their manager.
Whether that’s something Levy would be prepared to do remains to be seen.
Does Mauricio Pochettino have a release clause that Tottenham can trigger?
Pochettino signed the contract to become the USMNT boss in September – it hasn’t even been a year.
The former Tottenham boss has been trusted to get the best out of the USA in the World Cup next year, and any change of plan will cost a lot of money.
American journalist Jeff Carlisle revealed last September that Pochettino has a massive release clause in his contract with the USMNT.
He told ESPN: “Yeah, I was able to confirm that, it (a release clause) does exist.
“A federation source told me that it’s in the ‘tens of millions’, so I interpret that to mean that it’s $20 million at least.
“Now, I can think of some entities out there in the soccer world for whom $20 million would not be an impediment at all to try to wrestle away Mauricio Pochettino, but it could be more than that, so there is a grey area.”