Mauricio Pochettino has teased a potential move to Newcastle after his gardening leave at Tottenham finally finished.
Mauricio Pochettino has emerged from his Tottenham gardening leave with come and woo me message to Newcastle – or indeed any other club wanting a new manager. Speaking for the first time since he was sacked by Tottenham in November, the Argentine insists his “tank is completely full”.
“We are very receptive to listening to all the people because every single conversation we can learn from and maybe we can see a motivation to go with them,” he said.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy effectively forced him to take a six-month break from the game by insisting on a gardening-leave clause as part of Pochettino’s settlement.
That expired on Tuesday.
Now, with many Newcastle fans hoping he will be top of the recruitment list if the Saudi-backed takeover of the club goes through, Pochettino says he is looking for the “right project to be laid out there on the table”.
“After six months, our tanks are completely full,” he said.
“I have tried with my coaching staff to analyse through Zoom everything that we did in the last seven years because we never had a break until now.
“Football is very dynamic and you need to be ready for the moment when the offer appears, the new chapter in your professional life.
“Always, you dream of the perfect club. The perfect project. But its difficult to discover what that is until the project is on the table.”
Last summer, Mauricio Pochettino was being linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United – traditionally the biggest clubs in the world.
Interestingly, with the potential new Newcastle owners rumoured to be ready to plough millions into the club, the 48-year-old feels that the footballing landscape will be a very different one following the pandemic.
“Today we are going to live a completely different era in football that we need to discover,” the Argentine said. “Its difficult to know what project is going to be the right project.
“We are a coaching staff that are open to listen to all the projects, all the people.
“We are learning and sharing ideas. You never know when its going to be the motivation or the inspiration to say, Oh, they are the right people, and you want to be with them or their club.”
