'There is a buyout clause' - Tottenham already know minimum cost of Mauricio Pochettino return

Tottenham already know the high cost of bringing Mauricio Pochettino back to the club as they search for a new manager. Spurs sacked Ange Postecoglou on Friday, and they are now looking for a new boss as they head towards pre-season.

A number of managers have been linked, with Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Fulham’s Marco Silva reportedly the favourites, but whenever Tottenham find themselves searching for a new manager, old favourite Pochettino is linked with the job.

Poch has admitted he would like to return to the club some day, previously saying: "When I left the club I always remember one interview I said I would like one day to come back to Tottenham. I am in the USA, so I am not going to talk about that now - but what I said then I still, after six years or five years, feel in my heart. Yes, I would like one day to come back."

He added: "It's true after nearly six years with all that we lived together, it was tough because of all the ups and downs and emotional things that we lived. We split very well. One thing was professional, another personal and now, like the day after we left Tottenham, we always have a very, very good relationship."

These days, Pochettino is in charge of the the US national team, USMNT, and he was hired as a flagship appointment to lead the nation into the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The US are co-hosting the tournament, although they will serve as the main hosts, hosting the majority of the games and the final itself.

Pochettino was a huge appointment for the US federation, and it’s for that reason they baked a sizable release clause into the deal to protect themselves against situations like this one, when a club like Tottenham might come knocking.

Speaking when the appointment was confirmed, US journalist Jeff Carlisle told ESPN: “There is a buyout clause and it does exist. I was able to check it with a federation source and it’s in the ‘tens of millions’, so I interoperate that to mean that it’s $20million at least. Now, i can think of some entities in the soccer world to whom $20million would not be an impediment at all to try to wrestle away Mauricio Pochettino, but it could be more than that, so there is a grey area.

“That’s a considerable about of money and that would scare away the majority of national teams, but I can think of a few that it wouldn’t. But both sides want to make this work. Pochettino is taking a big leap into the international game, with not one of the traditional powers, so he is going to be very motivated to make this work, and the federation has taken the big swing that everyone wanted them to, so they are going to do everything in their power to make sure Pochettino is a big success. “

Tottenham will likely be priced out on this occasion, leaving Pochettino’s return pending for some day in the future.

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