Mauricio Pochettino has hinted he could take charge of Tottenham AGAIN in the future… but insists he wants to beat his former club when he returns to Spurs for the first time as Chelsea boss on Monday night

Mauricio Pochettino has refused to rule out being Tottenham manager again in the future as he prepares to face his former club for the first time as Chelsea manager on Monday evening.

The Argentine spent five-and-a-half years at Spurs, reaching the 2019 Champions League final in less than six months before being sacked.

Pochettino will be in the visitors’ dugout when Chelsea make the trip to north London on Monday after taking charge at Stamford Bridge last summer. He admitted he ‘can’t guess’ what kind of reception awaits him at Tottenham.

The 51-year-old has been linked with a return to Spurs several times since leaving Spurs and has hinted that he could manage the club again at some point in the future.

“It’s like life, you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” he said.

‘We should enjoy today and not look too much to the future. But if I don’t work, (and) maybe if they want me one day (…), why not?’

Spurs developed into a top four regular under Pochettino and played exciting football under his watch, but trophies remained frustratingly elusive.

Tottenham lost both finals they reached under Pochettino, who revealed six months after being sacked by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy that he was determined to return to the club to win a trophy.

For now, however, the former Argentina international is solely focused on Chelsea and insisted he wanted to beat his former club and would celebrate if the Blues won on Monday night.

“I want to win, I want to beat them,” he added.

“When I play with my children, of course I want to beat them, or my father or my brothers or my friends – I try to kill them.”

At the same time, the former Paris Saint-Germain boss acknowledged that after just four months at Stamford Bridge, his relationship with Chelsea fans has yet to reach the heights he enjoyed with their Spurs counterparts.

“I hope we can get to the same level I had at Tottenham because then it would mean we are doing very well here,” he said.

Pochettino took Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019 (above) but was sacked six months later by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy (right)

Pochettino’s choice to join Chelsea upset several Spurs fans, given the long-standing rivalry between the two groups of supporters.

Animosity between the clubs increased during Pochettino’s reign in north London, who suggested that matches against Chelsea were bigger than clashes against Spurs’ main rivals, Arsenal.

Chelsea denied Pochettino a League Cup win in 2015 and an FA Cup final berth to Chelsea in 201 and derailed Spurs’ title chances in the infamous ‘Battle of The Bridge’ in May 2016.

Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard publicly expressed the hope that Leicester would win the league instead of Spurs, as stopping Spurs became Chelsea’s sole motivation in the final weeks of a season in which they had nothing left to play for.

Trailing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, the Blues came back to draw 2-2 in an ill-tempered game, all but ending Spurs’ chances of winning the title.

And Pochettino admitted he was well aware of the consequences of crossing the gap from N17 to SW6.

“We cannot underestimate the fans of Chelsea and Tottenham,” he said.

‘The Chelsea fans know that we were at Tottenham, and the situation in the Champions League and the Battle of the Bridge… are we going to hide this emotion? No, that’s impossible.’

The Battle of the Bridge in 2016 marked a painful moment for Tottenham under Pochettino

For some at Tottenham, Pochettino’s choice to become Chelsea manager is unforgivable

But he also insisted he would not go out of his way to win over Chelsea fans on Monday night.

“I can’t say I’m forgetting all the things (at Tottenham), that would be stupid,” he continued.

‘I’m going to be natural and show every match that I want to win.

‘And at the same time I want to enjoy the place where I was part of the process of creating something special there. I am very calm and want to enjoy and hope for a good night for us.’