Mauricio Pochettino, the man at the helm of the US national team, has downplayed speculations of a swift return to Tottenham Hotspur despite his recent admission of an emotional pull to his former club. Pochettino, who steered Spurs with commendable success from 2014 to 2019, reaching the heights of a Champions League final and securing four top-four league finishes, has expressed a heartfelt desire to make a return.
While he currently gears towards leading the United States into a World Cup on home soil in 2026, murmurs have persisted regarding a potential comeback amidst Tottenham's lacklustre performance under Ange Postecoglou this season, with the team languishing at 14th in the standings.
Pochettino, who still harbours a connection with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, articulated his sentiments clearly: "I am going to repeat. In the bottom of my heart I still feel the same. I would like one day to come back," he stated.
"Not because of my ego it's because my feeling is I would like one day to win with Tottenham."
Pochettino elaborated on his vision for a Tottenham triumph, saying, "I think now Tottenham is a club with an expectation to win because if you see the facilities – training ground or stadium – now you can see it is about winning trophies. That is why I would like one day to come back."
Pochettino has expressed his deep connection to Tottenham Hotspur, saying, "But if that doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. With all the possibilities again to build something special, that is my feeling and it didn't change. It's six years since we left and it's always going to be a special club for me."
Despite recent setbacks with the US national team, Pochettino remains unfazed. After their defeats in the Concacaf Nations League and against Canada, he reassured fans: "I've seen some times that teams that were building to play in the World Cup, they were not good until around the World Cup," adding, "I want to send a message to the fans, don't be pessimistic and don't get bad feelings."
However, a BBC Sport report suggests that prising Pochettino away from his current role before the 2026 World Cup could be a costly affair. It would reportedly require 'one of the biggest financial compensation fees in football history', comparable to the hefty sums paid for Julian Nagelsmann and Graham Potter's managerial moves, which were around £21million.
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"I think we have time because if we will be in this situation in one year time, for sure, I will tell you, 'Houston, we have a problem,' no? In one year, if we're talking about that, it's because we have a big problem and we were not capable to discover, to try design a better strategy to provide to the team the capacity to play in a different way.
"I think we have time and I prefer that that happened today than [you] know, in one year," he added.