MAURICIO POCHETTINO should choose Chelsea over former club Tottenham, according to Neil Warnock.
Under interim boss Cristian Stellini, Spurs were thrashed 6-1 by Newcastle on Sunday – conceding five goals in the opening 21 minutes.
Stellini was relieved of his duties on Monday as Lilywhites chairman Daniel Levy axed the Italian, 48, after just three games in charge.
Ryan Mason will now take over until the end of the season as Tottenham seek a new permanent head coach.
And Pochettino has been linked with a return to North London, three and a half years after being dismissed by the club.
But Chelsea are also on the hunt for a new manager and are reportedly closing in on making the Argentine, 51, the permanent successor to Graham Potter.
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And while Spurs sit fifth in the Premier League table – 14 points ahead of Chelsea in 11th – Warnock still believes the Blues would be the better option for Pochettino.
Speaking on talkSPORT about Spurs’ capitulation against Newcastle, he said: “I’m thinking, I’ve never seen anything like it. I couldn’t believe it. No disrespect, but you can’t put somebody like that [Stellini] in charge.
“I remember when [Antonio] Conte left and I said, ‘You mark my words – you have a listen at what he said – that dressing room’s gotta be decimated. Gotta be gutted’.
“I wouldn’t envy anybody coming in there now. If Pochettino’s got any sense he’d go to Chelsea [because] all they need is a centre-forward.”
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Pochettino secured Spurs Champions League qualification four years in a row between 2015 and 2019.
And Tottenham finished runners-up in the Premier League in the 2016/17 season – behind champions Chelsea.
Poch also guided Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final where they were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool.
He was sacked by Levy in November 2019 after five years at the helm – with Tottenham sitting 14th in the Premier League table at the time of his departure.
He went on to manage Paris Saint-Germain for 19 months, claiming the Ligue 1 title before being sacked at the end of last season.
The ex-Espanyol and Southampton head coach has been out of work since then, with Manchester United opting to appoint Erik ten Hag ahead of him last summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
