Real Madrid and Tottenham could complicate United’s Pochettino chase

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It has been clear for quite some time that Mauricio Pochettino is one of the most serious contenders to be Manchester United’s new long term manager.

ESPN are the latest to report it, although Erik ten Hag and Luis Enrique are also in the frame, with a leading candidate still yet to emerge.

Pochettino is of course still in charge of Paris Saint-Germain but that is not expected to be a problem come the end of the season.

The signs are that he will be looking for a new challenge at the end of the season, but recent reports suggest United are not the only club looking to hand him one…

Real Madrid in the mix

The Daily Mail are reporting that Real Madrid are eyeing up Pochettino to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season.

The former Everton manager is coming under pressure and that has not been helped by losing to Pochettino in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 clash between the sides last week.

Of course, if Ancelotti was to overcome Pochettino in the second leg and lead Madrid to glory in the competition, the landscape could change.

Another factor in United’s favour is that the Madrid job tends to come up pretty often. If Pochettino has ambitions to manage there, the chance should arise again.

Whereas United would be offering him a chance to lead them into a new era, theoretically offering longer term stability and the opportunity to be the man who brings the glory days back to Old Trafford.

That said, if United dally and enquire about multiple targets while Madrid target their man with trademark ruthless aggression, as well as signing him Kylian Mbappe, the Argentine could head to the Bernabeu.

Tottenham could target Poch to replace Conte

The Telegraph report that Tottenham have doubts over whether Antonio Conte will be their manager at the start of next season.

It must be noted that report came out before Spurs’ 3-2 win over Manchester City, which could transform Conte’s reign and Spurs’ campaign.

But if Conte does walk out, Pochettino would apparently be Daniel Levy’s top choice to replace him and there is no doubting the Argentine’s emotional connection with the north London club.

United would hope to offer a more enticing offer across than Spurs can, potentially including signing Harry Kane to lead the line.

Also, such a development would put Conte back on the market and while United did not heavily go for him when they sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they could rethink come the summer.

United could go in another direction, with ten Hag a very viable candidate. But if they do, it needs to be because they think somebody else is the best man for the job and not because they really want Pochettino but find him too hard to obtain in light of recent developments.