Aston Villa's ambition could tempt Mauricio Pochettino to Villa Park, journalist Pete O'Rourke has told GiveMeSport.
The lowdown
The Argentine has been out of work since July when he left Paris Saint-Germain after just 18 months in charge. Prior to that, he spent more than five years in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard has come under pressure after picking up just eight points from a possible 24 at the start of the season.
According to Football Insider, the Midlands outfit have 'sounded out' Pochettino as they consider a change in the dugout, with Unai Emery also on their radar.
The latest
O'Rourke pointed to the initial appointment of Gerrard last November as a real statement from Villa, and he thinks that the club will have some allure if they target Pochettino as the 42-year-old's successor.
He told GiveMeSport: “They lured Gerrard away from Rangers in the first instance to show their ambition so there’s no doubt that Villa are an ambitious club. That’s something that definitely would come into Pochettino’s mind if he was to maybe move to Villa Park.”
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The verdict
Pochettino would be a pretty mighty coup for a Villa team languishing the bottom half of the Premier League table.
He has won Ligue 1, the French Cup and the French Super Cup and came so close to lifting the Champions League with Tottenham, falling to Liverpool in the 2019 final.
Indeed, it's important that he has already proven to be a success in England, leading Spurs to four consecutive top-four finishes between 2015/16 and 2018/19 and earning four Manager of the Month awards.
Pep Guardiola regards him as an 'excellent manager', while Marcelo Bielsa hailed the 50-year-old's previous achievements in north London as 'brilliant'.
If Villa were to dispense with Gerrard in the near future, they could do a whole lot worse than trying to sound out Pochettino to take over.