PARIS: Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is returning to football with Paris Saint-Germain after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.

PSG, European Champions League runners-up last season and French title-winners in seven of the past eight seasons, are an unaccustomed third in Ligue 1.

Tuchel has paid the price for a slow start in Ligue 1, where PSG have four defeats in their first 17 games and are a point behind Lyon and Lille. He departs after a 4-0 home win over Strasbourg on Wednesday.

He has been at loggerheads for some time with PSG’s sporting director, Leonardo, over the club’s transfer strategy.

In an interview with German TV channel Sport1. Tuchel was quoted as saying he felt more like “a sports politician than a coach” in his first year at PSG, but insisted that the quote was an inaccurate translation of a light-hearted comment.

The former Dortmund manager was appointed head coach in June 2018, replacing Unai Emery.

Tuchel, 47, won two Ligue 1 titles, completing a domestic treble last season, and in August this year led PSG to their first ever Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.

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