Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Mauricio Pochettino will have to push to leave PSG this summer if he wants to return to north London to become Tottenham's next manager.

Having sacked Jose Mourinho back in April, Spurs are still continuing to search for his replacement. 

Pochettino has been heavily linked with the role in recent days, and is believed to be keen on having a second spell in charge of Tottenham. However, former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte has now emerged as a frontrunner for the job, and he has held talks with Tottenham about the potential project that lies ahead.

Conte's return to the Premier League is not a done deal yet, though, and Romano has confirmed that Pochettino remains in the running, but that he must do one thing if he is to have any chance of securing a move back to Tottenham.

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What did Romano say about Pochettino?

Romano has stated that Pochettino must make it clear publicly that he wants to leave PSG as the French giants do not want to let him go at the moment.

Speaking on The Here We Go Podcast, Romano said: "They had contact with Pochettino some days ago but Paris Saint-Germain are still in the same position – Pochettino is not leaving the club. If he doesn’t do a public statement saying I want to leave Paris Saint-Germain, he is staying at Paris Saint-Germain."

Would Pochettino be willing to make a public statement?

According to French football reporter Philippe Auclair, the relationship between Pochettino and PSG's sporting director Leonardo is "irredeemably broken" as the pair have fallen out over a number of issues since Pochettino joined the club in December.

Auclair expects one of the duo to leave this summer, and if Pochettino does feel that he can no longer work with the club's hierarchy, he could decide that it is time to speak out. This may then clear the path for a potential return to Tottenham after only exiting the club less than two years ago.

Would it be wise for Pochettino to re-join Spurs?

If Pochettino does return to Spurs, he would not be the first manager to have two separate spells at the helm of the same Premier League club. There have been mixed results for other coaches who have gone down this route.

The most high-profile case in the Premier League era has been Jose Mourinho managing Chelsea twice. He won titles during both of his reigns, but his win percentage dropped by 11% during his second stint at Stamford Bridge as he struggled to replicate the glory days of the mid 2000s.

Kevin Keegan's homecoming at Newcastle went even worse. His second tenure lasted just 19 league matches, and his win rate fell to just 26.3%, whereas it was up at 54.6% the first time around.

However, there are also cases where going back for a second bite of the cherry has proven to be the right decision. Harry Redknapp improved his win rate at Portsmouth by almost 8% and won the FA Cup with the club in 2010 when he went back, while David Moyes only had a 29% win rate across all competitions when he was first at West Ham, but that has now leapt up to 44% during his current spell at the London Stadium.

This shows that going back to a former club can work, but it also can end up being an anti-climax, which is something that Pochettino will have to consider as he plots his next move.