Mauricio Pochettino has turned down the chance to replace Unai Emery as Villarreal manager after the Spanish boss confirmed his Premier League return.
Emery will take over as Aston Villa manager on November 1 after deciding to leave Villarreal to succeed Steven Gerrard.
Villa have agreed to pay the Spanish side £5.25million to trigger Emery’s release clause and bring the 50-year-old back to England, where he last took charge of Arsenal between May 2018 and November 2019.
The appointment came as somewhat of a surprise on Monday night after Villa had considered plenty of other options, including Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, Thomas Frank – and Pochettino. The Argentine manager has been available since being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain over the summer and has been linked with many roles.
Villa contacted Pochettino to sound out his interest in returning to the Premier League, where he has previously taken charge of Southampton and Tottenham. But the 50-year-old made it clear he wanted to bide his time and wait for a higher profile role at a Champions League club.
Interestingly, Villarreal got the same answer when they asked Pochettino if he would consider replacing Emery. Reports in Spain say Pochettino rejected the offer, prompting the Yellow Submarine to turn their attention to Quique Setien, who could be confirmed as their new boss in the coming days.
Villarreal, who are seventh in La Liga and competing in the Europa Conference League, also looked at Marcelo Gallardo and Rafa Benitez after being turned down by Pochettino. But it seems as though Setien, who last managed Barcelona in 2020, is now set for a return to management.
HAVE YOUR SAY! What would be a good club for Mauricio Pochettino? Comment below.
That means Pochettino is still on the lookout for a new job. Over the past few months he has been linked with French side Nice, as well as becoming Thomas Tuchel’s successor at Chelsea.
He spent 18 months in charge of PSG after being appointed in January 2021, replacing the dismissed Tuchel. He won 55 of 84 matches as PSG manager, and picked up the Trophée des Champions, Coupe de France and Ligue 1 title during his time there.
But it was his failure in the Champions League, as well as problems behind the scenes, which undermined his tenure. Aggregate victories over Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the Champions League were followed by a defeat by Manchester City at the semi-final stage in his first season, but PSG exited in the last-16 against Real Madrid in 2021/22.
Pochettino has frequently been linked with Manchester United in the past, but the appointment of Erik ten Hag in the summer looks to have closed that door. He retains a good reputation in the Premier League following his five-and-a-half year reign at Tottenham, which ended in November 2019.
