Mauricio Pochettino evaluates first PSG season amid speculation over Tottenham return

Coach is said to be in talks with his former club over a possible return

PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino was left frustrated (Getty Images)

Mauricio Pochettino has opened up about his first season with Paris Saint-Germain amid speculation he could be set for an astonishing return to Tottenham.

The 49-year-old Argentinian joined the French giants in January, just over a year after being sacked by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

Now he is being linked with a sensational move back to north London as Tottenham have reportedly approached him about the possibility of a second stint at the club less than two years after his departure.

Arriving at PSG, Pochettino hit the ground running by winning the Trophée des Champions and this month also managed to triumph in the Coupe de France.

But for the first time in four seasons PSG were beaten to the Ligue 1 title as Lille took it from them, while in the Champions League they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Manchester City.

Assessing their season, Pochettino told the club website: “I’m happy with the way the players adapted to the changes. There are a lot of things that couldn’t be changed or couldn’t be developed because of lack of time.

“But I think that with this way of working, and with the desire to be able to develop other kinds of ideas on the pitch, it will be possible to do great things in the future.

“Of course I’m proud of the team’s effort, because only we know what state the team was in and what we were capable of. I’m proud of all the people involved, not just the players, but all the staff at the club, everybody, because I think the effort was incredible, everything we did to stay alive until the last days in all the competitions.

“Winning the Trophée des Champions, winning the Coupe de France, reaching the semi-final of the Champions League, without being in your best form, and fighting until the last game with the possibility of winning the championship, and given the conditions in which we arrived in January, we should be proud of everything, of everyone who participated in this journey.”

Pochettino has a contract with PSG until the summer of 2022, with the option of an additional year.

And the way he spoke in his interview with last year’s Champions League finalists does not indicate he has plans to leave the French capital any time soon.

“I think that in football you are never satisfied. Because perfection doesn’t exist. But we are always looking for that satisfaction that we can’t find, because I always believe that football challenges you every day and that from season to season you have to be better and better,” he added.

“But in a club like Paris Saint-Germain, you are forced to think that perfection or satisfaction can come and that winning is the only option. And for a club like ours, it’s about winning, winning and winning. And then winning again.

“It’s a feeling I always thought I’d like to have. It requires a great, great amount of energy and always be sure that your priority is to be professional and that the difficulties and obstacles can always be overcome. And I think that’s the challenge, to impose that here.”