The newly-appointed Southampton boss spoke to his equivalent at Tottenham Hotspur about the role.
Speaking to Southampton’s official website, Mauricio Pellegrino has admitted that he sought the advice of Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Pochettino before taking the job at St Mary’s this summer.
The 45-year-old was named as Claude Puel’s successor at Southampton last month, signing a three-year deal with the South-Coast club.
And the ex-Alaves and Valencia coach revealed that he enlisted the help of a familiar face prior to accepting the job with the Premier League side.
Pellegrino admitted that he spoke to the popular Tottenham manager – who spent two seasons as Southampton boss – about the job, claiming he is grateful to his fellow Argentine.
“We were talking about the club, about the team, about the possibility that the club has got to grow in the future,” he said to Southampton’s official website.
“I felt quickly it would be a great opportunity for me. I am really grateful to Mauricio, and I would like to do the same and try to improve from the last few seasons, because the team have been playing at a good level and I have to take the best things from the past and try to improve to be better in the future.”
Pochettino, and later Ronald Koeman, built the foundations for Southampton to thrive in the Premier League following their promotion under Nigel Adkins in 2012.
The Argentine left the Saints for Tottenham in 2014 and few can argue it was a bad decision.
Spurs have seriously challenged for the Premier League in two of Pochettino’s three seasons in charge, and has masterminded back-to-back top-four finishes which have enabled Champions League participation.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
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