Paris Saint Germain: Mauricio Pochettino signs one-year contract extension

Mauricio Pochettino’s contract at Paris Saint-Germain has been extended for another year. The Argentine has been in charge of the Parc des Princes for barely six months, having taken over from Thomas Tuchel in January. When he arrived, the 49-year-old agreed to an 18-month contract that would run through June 2022, with the option of an additional year.

However, his contract has been extended until June of the following year, during which time he has attracted interest from former club Tottenham. Staff members of Pochettino have also been given extensions for the same amount of time.

He told the club’s official website, “I’m really very happy, for myself and also for my staff. It’s very important for us to feel the confidence of the club and we will give our maximum so that the supporters are proud of Paris Saint-Germain. That’s why we will try and reach our objectives all together, as one. Twenty years ago, I was captain of this club and today I am the coach. It’s a dream come true.”

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said, “we are delighted that Mauricio has reaffirmed his commitment to the Paris Saint-Germain family. Having also captained the team 20 years ago, he understands the club values, ambition and vision for the future. With Mauricio’s leadership, we’re excited and confident about what the future holds.”

Pochettino, the former PSG captain, gave stability to the club in the second half of last season and led them to French Cup success in 2020-21, but he couldn’t prevent Lille from stealing their Ligue 1 title. The French giants were also denied European success after losing to Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals.

The former Southampton and Tottenham manager has been linked with a shock transfer to Real Madrid to take over from Zinedine Zidane. Since then, Carlo Ancelotti has been signed by the Spanish team, while Nuno Espirito Santo has taken over as manager of the north London side. In May, Tottenham had considered bringing Pochettino back to the club, which would have been a stunning move.

Spurs officials considered the possibility of appointing the Argentine as their new head coach just over 18 months after he was fired, but PSG’s desire to keep him seems to have won out. Pochettino’s emphasis now shifts to recovering the Ligue 1 crown, with the additions of Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, and Georginio Wijnaldum to his side.