Mauricio Pochettino rejected a request from Tottenham to resign before he was sacked on Tuesday evening, according to media reports.
The 47-year-old has been dismissed after five-and-a-half years at Spurs and less than six months after he guided the team to the Champions League final.
Jose Mourinho has now been appointed as Pochettino’s replacement after a deal was finalised shortly after the Argentine’s departure was confirmed. Pochettino had reportedly become an increasingly distant figure at Spurs this season and even suggested that he would have left the club if his side beat Liverpool in Madrid on June 1.
According to reports, Pochettino had been in extensive talks with Spurs over the past week to resolve his future. And the report claims that Pochettino refused to accept Spurs’ request to step down, which would have seen him lose out on £12 million in compensation.
After the Argentine refused that request, Levy was subsequently left no choice but to remove Pochettino and his coaching staff from their positions. ‘It is not a decision the board have taken lightly, nor in haste,’ said Levy.
‘Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and the beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing. It falls on the board to make the difficult decisions – this one made more so given the many memorable moments we have had with Mauricio and his coaching staff.’
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