Mauricio Pochettino wants his next coaching job to be with a club capable of winning the Champions League after his experience of working with Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino departed PSG in July, having won the Ligue 1 title last season having failed to recover their title bid the previous year.
The former Tottenham boss paid the price for another lacklustre campaign in Europe, however, with his star-studded squad eliminated by Real Madrid across a dramatic last-16 encounter.
Pochettino has been out of work since despite offers, and he has now outlined exactly what he is looking for in a new project.
"Talking about projects in football is very difficult," he reflected. "There are [a] few lucky ones who can be involved in a project in the medium or long term.
"[But] there is more and more demand and less patience in the clubs. The main objective is to win and at the same time create a structure that gives you a livelihood to maintain it.
"After being at a club with Mbappe, Messi, Neymar, it is normal that I would seek to maintain that level. A club that gives the chance to aim for the biggest, like winning the Champions League [would be ideal]."
On countryman Messi, who is likely to have his final shot at winning a World Cup with Argentina at Qatar 2022 later this month, Pochettino feels his narrative helps La Albiceleste sit among the favourites.
"You always have to count on Argentina," he added."[But there is also] Brazil, [and] I would include England, France, Spain and Germany.
"Argentina is more favoured than four years ago, especially having won the Copa America. When you have Messi, and everyone understands they have to play for him, dreams can come true."
Success for Messi would see him follow Diego Maradona – another of the sport's all-time greats – in leading Argentina to glory.
Pochettino would not be drawn into any discussion around how the two compare as players, as he added: "For me, that debate never existed.
"They are the best in their respective contexts. How do we measure it?
"According to results? If he won the World Cup? Ballon d'Or? Both are in the same place, and it is in the first position."
Rumour Has It: Bayern plotting shock swoop for Chelsea flop Lukaku
Chelsea seem to have resigned themselves to making a major loss on Romelu Lukaku, who has only netted five times on loan at Inter this term.
According to a Football Insider report, the Blues are ready to move him on in at the end of the season, with Inter unlikely to try to extend his stay in Milan.
Chelsea spent £97.5milion to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in August 2021, but they are unlikely to get anywhere near that now.
TOP STORY – GERMAN CHAMPIONS LINE UP SHOCK LUKAKU MOVE
Bayern Munich are lining up a shock move for Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku to bolster their attacking options, claims Fichajes.
The report claims Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is an admirer of the Belgium striker, who he believes is one of the world's best forwards if injury free.
Bayern will not commence negotiations with Chelsea until the end of the season. The German champions had been linked with Harry Kane as they look for someone to replace Robert Lewandowski, who left for Barcelona last year.
Calciomercato reports that Chelsea may try to land a deal with Roma with a swap deal involving Tammy Abraham.
ROUND-UP
– 90min claims Manchester City have reignited their interest in signing 19-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz following a long-term knee injury which forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup. Fabrizio Romano claims Real Madrid will compete for the German's services too.
– Tottenham are interested in Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, reports ESPN. Henderson is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from United, who could use Spurs' interest as leverage in a deal for Harry Kane, per the report
– Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto is drawing interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, while 90min claims Juventus and Napoli are among a list of Italian clubs tracking him too.
– Fabrizio Romano claims Barcelona on the cusp of agreeing to a deal with Athletic Bilbao centre-back Inigo Martinez to join the Blaugrana on a free transfer in the off-season.
– Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to let Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches exit amid interest from Milan along with Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham and Wolves, reports 90min.
– Football London reports Arsenal are ready to ramp up their interest in Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi with a bid to come in the coming months, although he has a €60m release clause in his contract.
Kane's World Cup disappointment behind him as England record looms – Southgate
Harry Kane his World Cup disappointment behind him, England manager Gareth Southgate believes.
The Three Lions captain missed a decisive penalty in the quarter-final defeat to France in Qatar, continuing the nation's long wait for international glory.
Kane would have broken Wayne Rooney's international record had he scored the penalty, as well as potentially guiding England into the last four, but he fired his attempt over the bar and the Three Lions lost 2-1.
He is not alone in penalty heartache for England, however, with team-mates Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho all missing spot-kicks in the shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley in the Euro 2020 final.
Going back further, Southgate himself missed from the spot in England's semi-final defeat to Germany at Euro 1996, meaning Kane is only the latest in a series of stars to suffer penalty heartache.
However, Southgate feels that will not hold back the Tottenham striker and backs him as one of the all-time greats.
"We've seen that with his performances and goals for his club that he has put it behind him," he said.
"He knows he's going to have added motivation tomorrow [Wednesday] night to come back and show everybody what he is about again in an England shirt. For us that is a good position.
"It's always difficult to compare across ages, there a lot who I didn't see because I wasn't alive. But because of his goalscoring alone, that puts him in the upper echelons of that group.
"He provides so much more for the team than that, his quality of passing, his vision, his touch, he's an outstanding player and we're very fortunate to have him."
The honour of being England's leading goalscorer is almost certain to fall to Kane, who is tied with Rooney on 53 for the Three Lions, and Declan Rice feels it would be a just reward.
"I think you can see every time he scores a goal how much it means to him. Every goal, every training session, everything he does is at such a high level," the midfielder added.
"If he does break the record tomorrow, it will be thoroughly deserved. He is a real leader and a lot of us will be very happy for him if he breaks the record tomorrow night."
Conte on the brink – who are the contenders to replace him at Spurs?
With Antonio Conte expected to leave Tottenham by the end of the week, attention is already turning to who might be next to try their hand at what continues to look a near-impossible job.
Spurs are a big club with a fabulous stadium, passionate fanbase and talented squad.
Despite the relative success of Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino in the last two decades, as well as investing in high-profile bosses Jose Mourinho and Conte, none have been able to bring silverware to the north London club.
The only trophy Spurs have claimed since the turn of the century was the EFL Cup in 2007-08, and any new manager/head coach will be tasked with ending that drought as soon as possible, as well as ensuring another season of Champions League football.
Stats Perform looks at some of the early favourites, with Conte seemingly on the brink.
Mauricio Pochettino
The Argentinian was a very popular figure during his time at White Hart Lane – and subsequently Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Pochettino may not have won a trophy, but he presided over two title challenges and the run to the 2019 Champions League final, which resulted in a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.
He mostly got the best out of his players, too, and took many of them to another level.
His five-year reign included 113 wins from 202 Premier League games, a points-per-game (PPG) average of 1.89, very slightly higher than Conte's 1.88 (32 wins from 56 games).
Pochettino was eventually dismissed by chairman Daniel Levy after appearing to take the club as far as he could, so going back to him when still looking someone to take them to the next level might be a little backwards.
He would likely be a popular choice with the fans, though, and should at the very least provide some stability. Perhaps crucially, he might also be their best bet in convincing Harry Kane to stay.
Ryan Mason
It wouldn't technically be a return for Mason as he never actually left, taking on a first-team coach role after the end of his interim spell at the helm following the sacking of Mourinho in April 2021.
His second game in charge was a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in the EFL Cup final, but Mason arguably did well considering his lack of experience.
Given he only took charge of six matches, it seems a little pointless to stake a claim for Mason based on his own PPG record (2.0).
But the former Spurs midfielder is the heavy favourite for the job, even if only on a short-term basis again.
Similarly to Pochettino, the thinking behind that choice would most likely be stability and that decision makers at the club may feel the players are likely to respond positively to someone they already know.
Unless he performs spectacularly, appointing Mason would probably be followed by a full-time hire at the end of the season.
Thomas Tuchel
While Tuchel would be yet another former Chelsea boss taking the reins, following in the footsteps of Glenn Hoddle, Andre Villas-Boas, Mourinho and Conte, it's hard to argue with his credentials.
The German won 35 of 63 Premier League games with the Blues, a PPG average of 1.94, as well as winning the Champions League in 2021.
Considering Spurs are eager to win a first trophy since 2008, the fact Tuchel guided Chelsea to five finals – including the 2021 Club World Cup – in less than two years will no doubt appeal, even if he did lose three of them.
Tuchel reportedly left Stamford Bridge partly due to a disagreement on transfers with owner Todd Boehly, which may not bode well given Conte's consistent complaining about the way Spurs work in the market.
Either way, the man who shared a furious handshake with Conte earlier this season could well be the same person to replace the Italian in the Spurs dugout.
Luis Enrique
The former Real Madrid and Barcelona player most recently won 27 of 48 games as Spain head coach, but international football can be a different world to the top-level club game.
Luis Enrique was very successful in his last club job at Barca, though it admittedly helped having a front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all at their peak.
He won two LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey crowns, a Supercopa de Espana, a European Super Cup and a Club World Cup, as well as the 2014-15 Champions League as part of a historic treble.
Overall, Luis Enrique won 87 of his 114 LaLiga games (2.4 PPG), but it is difficult to compare this to counterparts at Spurs given Barca's relative dominance in Spain.
His record at Roma earlier in his career could be a better barometer, winning 16 of his 38 Serie A games in charge of the Giallorossi (1.5 PPG), before winning 14 of 38 LaLiga matches as head coach of Celta Vigo (1.3 PPG) before heading to Camp Nou. But how relevant are these spells now given he left Balaidos nine years ago?
Similarly, the fact he's not had a club job since 2017 might be seen as problematic by some fans, while it could also be argued he underachieved with Spain.
Roberto De Zerbi
De Zerbi has made his mark on the Premier League very quickly since replacing Graham Potter at Brighton and Hove Albion in September.
Brighton have thrived and find themselves in a genuine fight for Europe, with a top-four finish not out of the question at this stage as they sit seven points behind fourth-placed Spurs with three games in hand.
De Zerbi has won eight of his 19 Premier League games, while the Seagulls rank second in the Premier League for passing accuracy (86.9 per cent), average possession (62.1 per cent) and passes per sequence (4.5). They are also third for goals (35) and fifth for passes played into the opposition's box since his first game, highlighting an attack-minded approach that would certainly be appreciated by a frustrated Spurs fanbase.
Getting him out of Brighton will be easier said than done, however, having already lost one head coach this season, not to mention their renown for getting a good deal – Potter reportedly cost Chelsea £21.5million.
Spurs will almost certainly have to pay through the nose or look elsewhere.
Oliver Glasner
A surprise name that has emerged in recent days is that of Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Oliver Glasner, who impressed so many by leading the Bundesliga club to Europa League success last season.
Glasner made a promising start to his coaching career in his native Austria with Ried and LASK, before guiding Wolfsburg to seventh and fourth-placed finishes in the German top-flight.
He then made the switch to Eintracht ahead of the 2021-22 season. He could only guide them to 11th in the Bundesliga, winning just three of their 17 games in the second half of the campaign, but this came amid the backdrop of Europa League glory, eliminating Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham before beating Rangers in the final on penalties.
Some reports suggest Levy has already contacted Glasner, whose contract expires in 2024.
This season, Eintracht sit sixth in the league and were recently knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Napoli.
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