Mauricio Pochettino could still return to Tottenham one day, despite his Chelsea tenure and prospective new US national team role.
That's according to one of his former defenders, Danny Rose, who believed that his old boss was all but certain to take up the vacant managerial position at White Hart Lane last summer before the eventual arrival of Ange Postecoglou - and may still have a homecoming.
Pochettino was let go by the north London outfit in 2019 after a Champions League final hangover and a more than stellar five-and-a-half-year stint at the helm of the Lilywhites. A one-year spell with PSG followed a couple of years later, and he was released after just a single season at his next club, Chelsea, in May.
The Argentinian has now reportedly taken a step into international management and is due to be announced as the man to lead the United States into the 2026 World Cup - but Rose believes that there may still be another chapter left to Pochettino's Spurs tale.
“I definitely thought that pre-Chelsea, [Mauricio] Pochettino could return to Tottenham," Rose told In The Zone podcast, speaking about his former boss.
"I don't think that him going to Chelsea for a year hinders that happening again in the future. Although it’s another four years (sic) until the next World Cup and hopefully, he's going to see it out with managing the USA.
“Of course, anything can happen in the next four years, but before he went to Chelsea, I thought it was nailed on that he probably would have gone to Spurs before Ange. I still believe that he will return to Tottenham as manager one day.”
Spurs fans will likely, irrespective of their old manager agreeing to join a bitter rival, remember times under Pochettino fondly. When the ex-Southampton boss became their head coach in 2014, many thought he would become just another along the conveyor belt - as he was their 10th manager in just 12 years.
However, he guided them to Premier League contention in just a single season and developed some key names during this period, including aiding Harry Kane’s transition into one of the world's best marksmen and Dele Alli into an attacking force to be reckoned with.
He helped Tottenham to their highest finish in 54 years, coming second during an impressive 2016/17 season. In said term, they went the entire campaign unbeaten at White Hart Lane in fairytale fashion before it was demolished to make way for the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The club's dramatic run to the Champions League final in 2019 was the epitome of his spell at the reins, but the subsequent 2-0 loss to Liverpool was seemingly too difficult to recover from.
Despite the bitter nature of Pochettino's departure, Rose remains confident that one day, he will return to the club where he was once so beloved.