After sacking Steven Gerrard last Friday, Aston Villa decided to hire former Paris Saint-Germain manager Unai Emery to take over their managerial role.
However, the Premier League side was linked to another ex-capital club manager Mauricio Pochettino. Nonetheless, the Argentine didn’t take the position, so The Lions went to Emery.
During a stream on Spanish journalist MisterChip channel, Relevo’s Lorena González shed on Pochettino saying no to Aston Villa.
“What I can tell you is that they did not expect it at all and that they called Pochettino, and he has said no,” González said. “… With all my respect for Aston Villa, but I think he’s up for something more.
“The experience of the Premier [League] that Mauricio has, Emery does not have. He has fought for a title against Liverpool. He has fought in a Champions League final. I think he has another legacy, another cache.”
"El Aston Villa ha llamado a Pochettino antes que a Emery y ha dicho que no" @lorenaglez1711 https://t.co/DkGMZWJaHB pic.twitter.com/cg913Ice94
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) October 24, 2022
The 50-year-old has been out of work since July when PSG sacked him, and rather than jump into another job, Pochettino played the waiting game as he’s being selective for the next club.
Fabrizio Romano reported that Pochettino wants to wait until after the 2022 FIFA World Cup before heading back into coaching. It seems as though Aston Villa could not present a project that could entice him to forgo waiting.
Pochettino likely wants a job that can guarantee him to compete for a UEFA Champions League appearance which his last two positions at Tottenham Hotspur and PSG have done.
