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Report: PSG not Poch-ing Mauricio after all?

If the rumors are true, PSG are close to a deal that would bring Chelsea’s Antonio Conte to the Parc des Princes, leaving our Pochettino alone.

FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg
Imagine this man in Paris.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

We’ve been beating the panic drum over a potentially manager-less and hungry Paris St-Germain for a while now, especially because we know that Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is a former player and fan of the club. There have been rumors already that both PSG and Real Madrid are considering making a run to try and pry Poch away from north London.

But maybe not! Two different sources — the Guardian, and Fox Sports soccer writer Grant Wahl — say that they’re hearing that a deal is nearly in place that would take Chelsea’s Antonio Conte (along with midfielder N’Golo Kante) to PSG to replace Unai Emery, leaving Pochettino free to bask in his glory under the lights of the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Conte is almost certainly leaving Chelsea this summer after wearing out his welcome, and Unai Emery has been tipped for the sack for months now. And to be honest, Conte at PSG would make some sense, so long as he doesn’t completely alienate Neymar. The Guardian is reporting that meetings between the two clubs have already taken place. Wahl says his source for this rumor also tipped him off to Conte heading to Chelsea back in the day, so it seems, if not accurate, at least well-sourced.

This would be ok! I still have my doubts that Poch would leave Spurs for PSG even if they did approach him, but I’d rather that they just decide that it’s too much trouble dealing with Daniel Levy and instead look elsewhere. Hopefully this is accurate and all we need to worry about now is preventing Real Madrid from backing up a dump truck full of cash to Poch’s front porch.