Darren Bent believes Tottenham Hotspur supporters would “absolutely love” to see Mauricio Pochettino return to the Premier League giants after a spell at Paris Saint-Germain, speaking to talkSPORT (25 May, 9.50am).
You have to wonder how differently things could have been – for Spurs and Pochettino – if Daniel Levy had put his hand in his pocket in summer 2019?
Tottenham were crying out for reinvestment as they reached the end of a thrilling yet trophy-less era, with Moussa Dembele following Kyle Walker out the door and the likes of Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier failing to build on their initial promise.
But, with that space-age stadium proving a colossal drain on finances, Levy failed to spend a single penny on signings.
Ten months later, Spurs were meandering to a disappointing fourth-place finish with their Champions League final appearance a mere crack-papering distraction.
Pochettino would lose his job in November 2019 as Levy plumped for trophy-magnet Jose Mourinho instead.
But after the so-called ‘sure thing’ failed, the Mourinho fling ending in a messy break-up, The Sun reports a desperate, directionless Tottenham could make a late-night call to an old flame.
“For Spurs supporters, getting (Pochettino) back, they’d absolutely love it,” says former Tottenham striker Bent when asked about the prospect of the Argentine returning to his former stomping ground.
“He did a superb job at Tottenham (before) getting to the end of that cycle. And just when you needed Daniel Levy to put his hand in his pocket and reinvest in the squad, he fired him.”
The Sun reports that, after just half a season in the French capital, Pochettino is already growing tired of life at a club that drove Thomas Tuchel to distraction.
PSG surrendered their Ligue 1 crown to a Lille side chock-full of bargain buys and journeyman veterans on Sunday.
“I was quite surprised I didn’t hear reports saying PSG wanted to replace (Pochettino)! Because when you don’t win the French league at PSG, with the players they’ve got, you have to say something is seriously wrong,” Bent adds.
“If Daniel Levy ever wanted to appease the fans and get them back onside, that would be a way to do it (bring Pochettino back).
“If he’s not enjoying his time at PSG, he’s going to want to go somewhere he is going to be loved. And the Spurs fans absolutely love him – they still speak about him now! So I guess it’s an opportunity.”
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