French Ligue 1
30-YEAR CAREER OF NEW PSG MANAGER, MAURICIO POCHETTINO
Facts on Argentine Mauricio Pochettino who was appointed new manager of Ligue 1 side Paris St Germain on Saturday (Jan 2).
Born: March 2, 1972 in Murphy, Santa Fe, Argentina.
Playing career
* The centre back began his playing career with Newell’s Old Boys in 1988, making his debut at the age of 16.
* Claimed his first piece of silverware in 1991 when Newell’s were crowned champions of the Argentine Primera Division.
* Signed for Spanish side Espanyol in 1994, making more than 200 appearances and winning the King’s Cup before joining Paris St Germain in 2000.
* Made his Argentina debut in 1999 and went on to earn 20 caps, playing in the 2002 World Cup, where he conceded a penalty that David Beckham scored in England’s 1-0 group stage victory.
https://4db701368689ac2f3b14269876d4ca68.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html * Left PSG for Girondins Bordeaux in 2003, but struggled to settle in the south of France and rejoined Espanyol on loan during the second half of the season.
* Dubbed the ‘Sheriff of Murphy’ because of where he grew up, Pochettino joined Espanyol permanently after the 2003 season and won a second King’s Cup in 2006 before retiring at 34.
Coaching career
* Following his retirement from playing, Pochettino took his coaching qualifications and had a stint as assistant manager of Espanyol’s successful women’s side.
* In January 2009, at the age of 36, he took charge of third-bottom Espanyol and took them to a 10th-place finish in La Liga.
* Espanyol ended in mid-table in each of the following two seasons, just missing out on qualifying for the Europa League in 2011 after spending much of the campaign in the top five.
* Although they slipped to 14th the next season, Pochettino developed a reputation for bringing young players through the academy.
* At the start of the 2012-13 season, Pochettino expressed concerns about the club’s financial situation, and with the team bottom of La Liga, he left by mutual consent in November 2012.
Southampton
* Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins as manager of Premier League Southampton in January 2013 as the south-coast club looked to stay up after promotion the previous season.
* Despite being relatively unknown in England, Pochettino guided the club to a 14th-place finish after adopting a high-pressing, attacking style of play.
* The Argentine continued his philosophy of developing home-grown talent with England’s 18-year-old left back Luke Shaw bursting on to the scene, while the likes of Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez also flourished under him.
* After a solid start to the 2013-14 season, Pochettino led them to eighth, their highest ever finish in the Premier League at the time.
* With a year left on his contract and uncertainty surrounding the future of key players, such as England internationals Shaw and Lallana, Pochettino decided to join Tottenham Hotspur, where he became the second Argentine to manage the club after Osvaldo Ardiles.
Tottenham Hotspur
* Pochettino was appointed Spurs head coach on a five-year deal for the 2014-15 season to replace Tim Sherwood. He became Tottenham’s 10th manager since 2001 under chairman Daniel Levy.
* Spurs finished fifth in his first season and reached the final of the League Cup. They then battled 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester City for the title in 2015-16 but the Foxes won the race while the London club finished third to claim a Champions League spot for the first time since 2010-11.
* Pochettino continued to foster young players and the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks all blossomed at the club and with England.
* The Argentine penned a new five-year deal in May 2016 and Tottenham maintained their upward trajectory, finishing second and then third again over the following two campaigns as well as reaching the Champions League last-16 in 2017-18.
Fan-favourite Pochettino, dubbed ‘Magic’ by the Tottenham faithful, signed another five-year contract in May 2018 as Levy put his faith in the manager’s ability to bring success.
* Despite operating with a much lower transfer budget than other top European clubs and having to play at Wembley while their new one billion pound (S$1.7 billion) stadium was built, Spurs reached their first Champions League final after recovering from 3-0 down on aggregate away against Ajax Amsterdam in the semi-finals.
* However, Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the final in Madrid and a poor start to the 2019-20 campaign – with the club languishing in 14th place in the Premier League and having been thrashed 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich in the Champions League – led to the 47-year-old Pochettino being sacked in November.
Paris St Germain
* Ligue 1 champions sacked Thomas Tuchel a day after the league’s winter break began and signed Pochettino on a deal until June 2022, with an option of a further year.
-Reuters
After Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi signed a contract extension with French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain, he became the World’s most-paid fullback.
The Moroccan international will earn a staggering €70 million in wages over his new five-year deal, cementing his status as football’s highest-paid defender.
He signed a contract extension with the French champions until 2029. The new deal adds three years to his previous contract, which was set to expire in 2026.
His net salary is increasing from €10 million to €14 million per season (€28 million gross).
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or nominee and Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, is almost certain to leave the Serie A in the coming winter transfer window following interest from Premiership but the biggest interest is from Paris Saint Germaine.
The AFCON 2024 silver medal winner with Nigeria has been on the radar of the London side, West Ham United and three other sides from the league but all is more certain that the London club will find it difficult to compete for the signature of Atalanta star according to Football Insider.
Reports have suggested that the Irons are ready to swoop for the Nigeria international in the January transfer window.
However, sources say there will be “huge interest” from Europe in the 27-year-old ex-Everton star.
Paris Saint-Germain will be the frontrunner for the forward if he becomes available in the coming months.
Additionally, Lookman plays in the same area of the pitch as West Ham’s big-money summer signings Crysencio Summerville and Luis Guilherme.
The London-born has raised his stock with his displays for Atalanta since joining from RB Leipzig in 2022.
He finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings this year after leading the Italian side to a Europa League title last term.
Lookman has already hit five goals and contributed five assists in 10 games across all competitions this term.
The forward, who is under contract until June 2026, hit 17 goals and notched 10 assists in 45 appearances last season.
West Ham are unlikely to have serious funds to spend in the January window after their lavish spending in the off-season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side started slowly and sat 13th in the Premier League after nine games.
Paris St Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French football league’s governing body (LFP) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.
French media reported the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is seeking around 55 million euros ($59.52 million) in salary and bonuses he says he is owed by the club.
The Ligue 1 champions, however, say Mbappe’s contract was “legally amended” and that he reneged on commitments when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.
PSG said last month that Mbappe had refused an offer from the LFP to mediate on the issue.
The LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on Oct. 15 and announced on Friday it had ruled in favour of Mbappe.
“The club must pay him the salary he is claiming. This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF (French Football Federation) Executive Committee,” the LFP told Reuters.
However, PSG said they would be “forced to bring the case before the competent courts” while still trying to find an “amicable solution” with Mbappe, who became the French club’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital.
“What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 – until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club,” a PSG spokesperson said.
“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
“The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player’s bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further.”
Mbappe’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
In January, Mbappe had said he made an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi which would “protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead”.
-Reuters
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