Search icon

Football

05th Jul 2022

Mauricio Pochettino sacked by Paris Saint-Germain

Daniel Brown

The Argentine had been in charge since January 2021

Mauricio Pochettino has been sacked by Paris Saint-Germain despite winning the Ligue 1 title last season.

PSG were crowned champions last campaign, however, both the team and manager have faced intense backlash from supporters following their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid in March.

The Argentine, who was appointed head coach of the Parisians in January 2021, succeeded Thomas Tuchel in Paris, signing a deal until 30 June 2022, with the option of an extra year.

Pochettino played for PSG between 2001 and 2003, but his time in the French capital as the club’s manager has been far from memorable. 

Mauricio Pochettino sacked

PSG’s underwhelming season

The Ligue 1 giants were knocked out of the French Cup by Nice earlier in the season and exited the Champions League after Karim Benzema scored a superb second-half hat-trick as Madrid produced a stunning fightback to reach the quarter-finals at the expense of Pochettino’s side. 

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos were all subject to abuse from PSG fans in recent months, while supporters at the Parc des Princes loudly booed Pochettino’s name as it was read out by the stadium announcer during the title-winning match against Lens.

Pochettino was in the running to become Manchester United’s next manager, however, the Red Devils appointed Ajax manager Erik ten Hag as the club’s new boss.

Mauricio Pochettino sacked

Pochettino ‘no longer wanted to continue’

As previously reported by Le Parisien, Pochettino no longer wanted to continue as the club’s boss, while the PSG hierarchy did not want the Argentine as their manager.

The report added that PSG would need to pay €15 million (£12.6m) in order to sack the former Spurs boss and his coaching staff, who had one year left on their contracts.

Related links.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10