It was the interview that changed everything.
We are in the heart of autumn, in Doha, a sign that the ousting of Thomas Tuchel does not respond to a whim.
It has been programmed for a long time, probably accelerated by the criticisms of the German coach in early October on the transfer window and the club's overall sports policy since he also publicly regrets at that time the management of Adrien Rabiot, a free party for Juventus Turin in the summer of 2019.
“We didn't like the statement.
The club did not like and, personally, I did not like ", had sharply cropped Leonardo on the evening of the victory against Angers (6-1) before concluding:" If he decides to stay, he must respect sports policy and internal rules.
Tuchel has just committed a crime of lese majesté by criticizing Qatar, which is not to the taste of the Emir, the owner of the club in the capital.
Leonardo has targeted three successors to end the tenure of the former Dortmund coach.
His priority goes to Massimiliano Allegri, titled with Juventus Turin (5 crowns of Italian champion in particular) and unfortunate double finalist of the Champions League (2015 and 2017).
In the anteroom also patient Thiago Motta, the sentinel of the years Carlo Ancelotti-Laurent Blanc converted coach (including the U 19 of PSG) and Mauricio Pochettino, without a club since his dismissal from Tottenham, in November 2019.
Received in Doha by the Emir himself
In this autumn, Pochettino is received in Doha by the Emir in person, at the heart of all the strategic decisions of recent years: the dismissal of Laurent Blanc, the arrival of Neymar or the return in 2019 of Leonardo to the post of sports director. .
VIDEO. PSG: Thomas Tuchel sacked, Pochettino replaces him
In front of the ultimate boss of PSG, the Argentinian seduces and makes a strong impression.
His vision of the game, of football, of the players, everything goes and the Argentine commits a faultless, successfully exposing his convictions.
From outsider, he quickly goes to favorite and he ends up winning the piece, without knowing if his two other competitors were also received for this great oral.
The Italian, he claims 12 million euros net to sit on a bench, a dizzying sum even for Paris, while the former midfielder probably does not yet have the stature necessary to take a also posh formation.
But above all, Pochettino successfully passed his job interview in Doha.
The choice is obvious.
In Paris, the entourage of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi lets filter the idea that the arrival of Pochettino falls to the president alone.
The opinion of the shareholder, very involved in the life of PSG, proved decisive.
“Pocket” assistants already at work
Here is now Mauricio Pochettino on the track to train Paris, more than seventeen years after leaving the Camp des Loges where he left excellent memories as a defender.
He now has to wait for the end of negotiations between the lawyers of PSG and those of Thomas Tuchel to settle the severance payments of the German coach, who saw nothing coming.
He had decided to leave Paris at the end of the season, proposal for a contract extension or not (it obviously did not come), but never knew the commotion behind the scenes.
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In the meantime, the assistants of “Poche” have already started to work on their future team.
They wonder in particular about the date of resumption of training, set by Tuchel for January 3, only three days before the trip to Saint-Etienne, on behalf of the 18th day of Ligue 1. It will be the premiere of Pochettino and Doha will be in front of his TV.