According to journalist Miguel Delaney in the Reading The Game newsletter in The Independent (2:12pm, March 10, 2023), Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte wants to become the new Real Madrid head coach, and so does former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Delaney has claimed that Conte is eyeing the Real Madrid managerial role, just like former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel is.
Spurs want to hire Pochettino as Conte’s replacement at the end of the season, but the Argentine boss himself is keen on a move to arguably the biggest club in the world.
The Argentine was hugely successful during his first spell at Tottenham, who reached the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2019 under him.
Delaney wrote: “That could be all the more influential for the future of the biggest figure in Spurs’ recent history. It’s funny how things work out. It was only at the start of this week that many were talking about how Mauricio Pochettino would soon be offered the Chelsea job, and was going to consider it.
“As it is, Graham Potter now looks in a much better position, and all momentum shifts towards Pochettino and the grand return. It should be stressed that it isn’t quite as destined to happen as the romance of it all would make out. Pochettino would have options, and also complications, given that there was a sense his first spell at Spurs had run its course.
“There are still some tensions from that time, and the manager spent a lot of angling for a job that could be available in the summer in Real Madrid. There are going to be a lot of moving parts here.”
The journalist added: “Pochettino may have competition there, though. With Carlo Ancelotti anticipated to leave the Bernabeu in the summer, it is set to be the prize role, a new managerial appointment perhaps crowning a new era. Thomas Tuchel and – naturally – Conte are among those also eyeing it. It makes this a potentially interesting summer for the coaching market, that comes at a point when we are potentially moving onto the next generation of managers.”
Potential disappointment for Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino
In our view, it is unlikely that Antonio Conte or Mauricio Pochettino will get the Real Madrid managerial role.
Conte is an elite manager, but he really does not have a great record in the UEFA Champions League.
Moreover, the Italian boss’s football is very defensive.
Pochettino is a very good manager, but his time at Paris Saint-Germain was mixed.
Would the Argentine be able to win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League with Madrid?
Pochettino is not an ‘elite’ manager either.
We do not think that Madrid present Florentino Perez will sack Carlo Ancelotti for Conte or Pochettino.
Thomas Tuchel, on the other hand, would be a great managerial appointment for Madrid at the end of the season, if indeed last season’s La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners sack Ancelotti.
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