Mauricio Pochettino: “One day I would like to coach Real Madrid”

Newly appointed PSG manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has been a candidate for the Real Madrid role on a number of occasions, most notably in 2018 after Zidane resigned. At the time, Pochettino was coach of Tottenham Hotspur and felt an obligation to see out his contract. The Real Madrid train passed, but he has always kept the club close to his heart and still harbors aspirations of one day coaching the club.

“As a player, I had the opportunity to sign for Madrid but for some reason it didn’t happen,” Pochettino told Enrique Ortego in an interview for AS. “When I first joined Espanyol in 1994, with Camacho, he always told me about the culture, the mentality, what it meant to be part of a family like Real Madrid. His words always stayed with me. Then later on, the same happened when I chatted to Alfredo di Stéfano. As I got older, Camacho’s influence really started sinking in. He represented the values of Madrid and the soul of the club.”

“It was always my objective to one day be able to play for Real Madrid and when you don’t realize a dream, you say, ‘Well, look, one day I’d like to coach Real Madrid - after Espanyol. And why not one day coach Argentina, because I was born with the Argentinean flag on my chest. Those are the two things in football that I would say I would like to achieve’,” Pochettino revealed.

If successful at PSG, especially with global super stars like Neymar and Mbappe, then the Real Madrid job will likely be offered again. By that time, Pochettino’s resume will be diverse, with stints in La Liga, the Premier League, and Ligue 1. Time will tell if Pochettino ever gets to fulfill his dream of managing Real Madrid.