You never know what is going to happen in football, but Mauricio Pochettino proclaims to know that certain things will never happen.
The Tottenham manager knows, or at least proclaims to know, that he will never manage Arsenal, given his ties to Tottenham. He also claims that he will never manage Barcelona, given his ties to Espanyol, and that there are some jobs in football that he would turn down in favour of working on his farm in Argentina.
Managing Real Madrid is seemingly not one of those jobs. With current Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane under fire at the Santiago Bernabéu following a string of losses this season, most recently to Leganes in the Copa Del Rey quarter-finals, Pochettino was asked about the possibility of managing Los Blancos should he be offered the job.
The Spurs boss' contract runs until 2021, but he noted that given the lack of job security in the Premier League, that as a manager, you have to be open to considering offers from other clubs.
"My commitment is massive [to Spurs]. I am working like I am going to be here forever," said Pochettino at Friday's press conference.
"But in the end you never know what is going to happen in football. Tomorrow [Tottenham] chairman Daniel Levy could have a bad night and say, 'Oh I am going to sack Mauricio', then I look stupid saying I am not going to work in one place or another or another."
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Pochettino also responded to Arsene Wenger's comments earlier this week that some pundits "celebrate some teams who have not been in a final for 25 years".
The remark was taken as a jibe at Arsenal's north London rivals and Pochettino said that Wenger should worry about his own club, who will not be playing in the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend following their 4-2 loss to Nottingham Forest earlier this month.
"I'm so young and only five years in the Premier League, in two clubs Southampton and Tottenham, but there's no point to talk about another team," Pochettino said. "Praise? Of course we receive praise. Football is not only to win trophies, it's the circumstances of different clubs.
"For me he is and will always be one of the best managers in the world, I respect him, but I think he needs to talk for himself and for Arsenal."
