Mauricio Pochettino is one of many high-profile coaches without a job. After being sacked by PSG over the summer, the Argentine missed out on the Manchester United managerial role, as that position had already been offered to Erik ten Hag, thus meaning the former Tottenham tactician entered the 2022/23 season as a free agent.
Nonetheless, given that a number of top European teams have been struggling this campaign, ranging from Juventus' woes to Bayern Munich's hiccups here and there, many expected a continental heavyweight to make a move for Mauricio, if not one of Zinedine Zidane or Thomas Tuchel.
Despite this, however, the South American boss is being linked with an unexpected return to France, and no, it is not one of the country's biggest sides that is in for the 50-year-old.
Foot Mercato initially broke this story, revealing that Nice have shortlisted Pochettino as a candidate to replace their current boss Lucien Favre. Ironically, Favre is the man that succeeded Mauricio's replacement at PSG, with current Parc des Princes boss Christophe Galtier having been in charge of Les Aiglons last season, leading them to a fifth-placed finish.
However, this season, Nice have lost half of their opening eight top-flight games while winning only two, thus finding themselves in 13th. As a result, a managerial change could take place at the Allianz Riviera earlier than expected.
Well-known journalist Julien Laurens went on to corroborate this story, tweeting that a meeting could take place between the club and coach on Tuesday as he is the preferred candidate to replace Favre.
Nice want Mauricio Pochettino to replace Lucien Favre! A meeting could be happening soon to present him the club's long term project. Club is going nowhere with Favre right now.
— Julien Laurens (@LaurensJulien) September 20, 2022
However, in an article for ESPN, Laurens offered more insight into the situation, writing that Nice owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the richest man in the UK, is contemplating sacking the current boss and replacing him with the aforementioned Argentine. Additionally, the Ligue 1 outfit are even willing to meet Mauricio's financial demands.
Despite all of this, Laurens goes on to add that the highly-rated coach isn't keen on returning to France and instead prefers another spell in the Premier League. In England, Pochettino spent five interesting years at Tottenham, taking them to a UEFA Champions League final before eventually being let go. Nonetheless, the Argentine feels he has unfinished business there.
Additionally, given Allegri's struggles in Turin and Ancelotti's hints at retirement, the Juventus and Real Madrid jobs, which Pochettino has been linked with before, could become available.
