Mauricio Pochettino: Why US compesation clause means unlikely Tottenham return before World Cup

Pochettino’s recent remarks appeared to swing the door open towards him replacing Postecoglou should the Australian lose his job before next season.

“I am in the USA, so I am not going to talk about that now – but what I said then I still, after six years or five years, feel in my heart,” he said last week. “Yes, I would like one day to come back.”

However, according to well-placed sources, Pochettino has no immediate wish to return to Spurs. He is said to be fully committed to leading the US to a home World Cup.

Of course, the mammoth cost of releasing Pochettino from his current deal lends itself to a singular focus, with the notion of any club – particularly one with a chairman as financially astute as Daniel Levy – parting with such a sizeable sum as being far-fetched.

Yet, you get the sense Pocehttino’s desire to lead the US to the World Cup is genuine and not a mindset borne out of stipulations relating to his contract.

Indeed, during the same interviews in which he re-affirmed his intention to one day return to Tottenham, the South American spoke of his engagement with his new team and the project ahead.

“For us, the pressure is going to be there [at the World Cup] because we are a host,” he said.

“And then it’s a country where the mentality is about winning. In sport, in everything that Americans are involved in, they want to win.

“The players know it’s going to be massive pressure and now our president [Trump] likes to put pressure on, but it’s welcome. That means we are going to feel the adrenaline we need to feel. We are ready to deliver.”