MAURICIO POCHETTINO would have returned to Spurs — even if they had dropped out of the Prem.
The Argentinian hinted Tottenham approached him last season in a horror campaign when they almost suffered relegation for the first time since 1977.
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But Pochettino, who bossed the club from 2014 to 2019, could not take over because he was in charge of the USA.
Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor were both sacked last season before Roberto De Zerbi came in and saved the club from relegation to the Championship.
Pochettino, 54, said: “If I were free, I would have gone back to Tottenham.
“Even in the Championship. Whatever the division. Another club, no.
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“But Tottenham, yes, of course. It’s the only club I’m always open to help.”
Poch, whose USA contract expired with the World Cup co-hosts’ 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the last 16, signed a four-year deal with the Yanks on August 3.
He added: “The problem was the timings were never the best.
“When I was free, I never received a contact and then when I was working, I received a contact and then I couldn’t make the decision to come back. It was a little bit unlucky. Maybe one day the stars will align and it will happen.”
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Pochettino Spurs stats
MAURICIO POCHETTINO spent X years at Tottenham but never led the club to a major trophy.
Here is a look at his record at the North London club…
- Games – 293
- Wins – 160
- Draws – 60
- Losses – 73
- Goals scored – 559
- Goals conceded – 322
- Record transfer in – Tanguy Ndombele, £55.45m from Lyon in 2019
- Record transfer out – Kyle Walker – £50m to Man City in 2017
Pochettino was sacked by Daniel Levy just a few months after taking the club to the 2019 Champions League final.
He famously gesticulated on the pitch after the North Londoners’ incredible comeback to beat Ajax in the semi-final.
And he believes Chelsea’s 2017 Prem crown should be awarded to Spurs due to Blues’ 74 breaches of FA rules.
The Argentine said: “I lost my job because we didn’t win a title.”
Levy was booted out himself 12 months ago after a fallout with the Lewis family and owners Enic.
Poch said: “He feels like I did when I was sacked — now he knows that feeling. I keep in touch with him.
“It was never a personal situation. I have no bad feelings.
“When something like that happens you are more empathetic with people.
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“If you’re a coach and sacked, you pick up your things and you can never come back and say goodbye to the maybe 200, 300 people who were your family. That was really, really tough for me and I’ve talked with him about that.
“It’s difficult because he spent 25 years building his house, his club, so what happened was tough for him and his family. I’m sorry for them.”
Pochettino sees his own immediate football future on the other side of the Atlantic, talking of the “trust” from US Soccer that saw him sign a new deal.
The next few years will see the Argentine commuting from his London home to his US base in Atlanta.
But if circumstances changed, he is ruling nothing out including the England job — despite the simmering animosity between his homeland and adopted country.
He added: “If England were to make an approach, in the future, when I am not with the US any more, then yes.
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“It’s true it could be controversial because an Argentinian guy is thinking of defending the flag of England.
“But it’s just football and I feel as countries we are very similar in the way we feel the passion of football.”