Mauricio Pochettino ‘is plotting a sensational return to Tottenham if Antonio Conte departs’

Mauricio Pochettino is targeting an emotional return to Tottenham this summer if Antonio Conte leaves the club, according to reports.

The Argentine was sacked in 2019 after a torrid run following their Champions League final loss to Liverpool, but he has made no secret of his desire for another chance at work.

Sportsmail reported this week that it seems increasingly likely that Conte will leave his post at the end of the season. His contract ends in June and Spurs have the option to extend him by 12 months, but sources have indicated there is little interest in doing so.

The team now has just one cup competition left: the Champions League, where it is losing 1-0 from the first leg against AC Milan before the second leg at home on Wednesday night.

The Italian has also suffered a difficult campaign off the pitch. He has been forced to undergo gallbladder surgery and has missed a handful of games while recovering. He has also been mourning the death of fitness trainer Gian Piero Ventrone and his close friends Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli.

Antonio Conte has been heavily linked with a departure after a difficult season with Tottenham.

With clubs in Italy said to be eyeing Conte this summer, Pochettino now has Tottenham’s hot seat in his sights, according to the timeshaving remained on good terms with President Daniel Levy.

The two shared a close relationship during Pochettino’s five years in north London, starting in 2014, and the Argentine is one of the names Spurs are considering to replace Conte, the report added.

Pochettino is believed to still live at the Hertfordshire address he stayed at during his time as Spurs boss and would be a popular rendezvous having built a strong relationship with the fans and played some exciting, attacking football.

However, there could be opposition to Pochettino’s appointment from sporting director Fabio Paratici, whose last two managers, Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte, played with a back of three, with Pochettino favoring a back of four.

In fact, there have been strong murmurs of discontent among the Spurs faithful about the negative brand of football seen under Conte, and those voices were raised after Sheffield United knocked the team out of the FA Cup.

Since leaving Tottenham, Pochettino has had one season: an 18-month spell with PSG, where he won Ligue 1 and the French Cup before being sacked after a disappointing Champions League campaign.

Pochettino was a hugely popular figure with fans before he was sacked from his position in 2019.

He led Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019, losing to Liverpool, and was also involved in two title runs but never won a trophy.

Speaking to BT Sport in 2020, Pochettino made it clear he wanted another shot at managing the club in the future, saying it was his “dream” to finish what he started after narrowly missing out on the Champions League trophy and coming second behind Chelsea in the 2016-17 season.

‘Deep in my chest, my soul, my heart, I’m sure we’ll cross [paths] again,’ he said. ‘Since the day I left the club, my dream is to come back and try to finish the job we didn’t finish. We were so close to winning the right trophies, the Premier League and the Champions League.

“Maybe in five years, maybe in 10 years, and now I’m going to conspire with the universe and discard the idea that before I die, I want to manage Tottenham again and try, if possible, to win a title.”

“I still feel that it is my club, my place,” he said. ‘I think when you really feel committed and when you feel like people give their all to try to be successful, and they treat you very, very well the way they treat us, it’s impossible to forget that. That’s why I think Tottenham will always be a special club for me.”