Mauricio Pochettino 'waiting for Paris Saint-Germain job amid Real Madrid links'

By Oliver Thomas, Senior ReporterPublished: 03 December 2020 1:13 PM

Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly being lined up as a potential replacement for Thomas Tuchel as manager of Paris Saint-Germain, despite links to Real Madrid.

Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly being lined up as a potential replacement for Thomas Tuchel as manager of Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite an impressive 3-1 away victory at Manchester United on Wednesday night, pressure is still mounting on Tuchel with the French champions needing at least a draw against Istanbul Basaksehir next week to secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

PSG chiefs are already on the hunt to replace the German head coach and it has been claimed that it is 'highly unlikely' he will be granted an extension to his contract, which expires next summer.

"He's out of contract in June and he knows that he's not going to get an extension, or that it's very, very unlikely now. The pressure has been building this season and it will peak if they don't qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, that would really be unacceptable for a club like PSG," French football correspondent Julien Laurens told talkSPORT.

"Pochettino has been very clever in the way that he's waiting. He could have gone back to management very early on, but he waited. He really wanted to get the right project and the right club.

"Real Madrid would be interesting for him, we know how close he is to Florentino Perez. But he has really good ties with PSG. He loves Paris as a city and as a football club. That could be very interesting, I think it's a very attractive club for any manager."

Pochettino, who made over 70 appearances for PSG as a player during a three-year spell with the club, has been out of work since the Argentine was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019.