Mauricio Pochettino emerges as contender for Juventus job?

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 15 October 2022

Former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino reportedly emerges as a contender to replace Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus.

Former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino has supposedly emerged as a contender to take over at Juventus.

The Argentine is on the lookout for his next job in management after being sacked from his role at PSG after less than two years in charge over the summer.

Despite winning the Ligue 1 title, the Coupe de France and Trophee des Champions during his time at the Parc des Princes, failure to secure the Champions League trophy cost Pochettino his job.

The 50-year-old was regarded as a leading candidate to take over permanently from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United, but the Red Devils opted to hire Erik ten Hag instead.

Over the past few weeks, Nice have been linked with a move for Pochettino as they scope out replacements for Lucien Favre, and he is also understood to be on Aston Villa's radar.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Mauricio Pochettino on February 26, 2022 © Reuters

There has also been talk of Pochettino possibly succeeding Gareth Southgate as England manager, but there is not thought to be anything concrete regarding such speculation.

Instead, Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Juventus have sounded out Pochettino as a possible successor to Massimiliano Allegri, whose future remains shrouded in uncertainty.

Allegri won five consecutive Serie A titles with the Old Lady between 2014 and 2019, but his side have endured a woeful start to life in Serie A and the Champions League in the 2022-23 season.

Juventus have only won three of their opening nine Serie A matches to sit ninth in the table and are on the verge of elimination from the Champions League.

The Bianconeri suffered their third defeat from four European outings in a shock 2-0 loss to Maccabi Haifa earlier this week, leaving them third in Group H and five points adrift of Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain with two games remaining.

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri pictured on October 8, 2022 © Reuters

However, Allegri has been handed a public vote of confidence by Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, and director Pavel Nedved has affirmed that the Italian will stay on as head coach.

"The President was very clear on Allegri's future — he stated that the manager is staying. We know there's a long road ahead, and it will take a while to get out of this situation," Fabrizio Romano quotes Nedved as saying.

The report adds that current Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is still being considered for a recall to Turin, despite the acrimonious circumstances of his departure in 2016.

Conte branded links with the Old Lady "disrespectful" last month, though, and Tottenham are reportedly planning to open contract talks with the 53-year-old next month.

Conte's existing deal in North London is due to expire at the end of the season, but Tottenham are understood to possess the option to extend his deal by another year.