ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Mauricio Pochettino, the current head coach of the United States national team, has revisited the Premier League title won by Chelsea in the 2016-17 season. He argues that, in light of financial violations that have come to light in recent months, the title should be retroactively awarded to Tottenham, who finished second under his management. Chelsea was recently sanctioned for irregularities dating back to the Roman Abramovich era, with violations involving transfer market dealings concluded between 2009 and 2022. “We should have won a Premier League; it should have been awarded to us,” Pochettino told The Guardian. “If that rule violation by Chelsea is true, then we deserved to be champions that year, without a doubt. They were punished—did they admit it? So that’s it. The title should go to the team that finished second.” The Argentine, who also managed Chelsea during the 2023-24 season, does not question the sporting achievements of Antonio Conte’s team but emphasizes the need for rules to apply equally to everyone: “I’m not saying Chelsea didn’t play well, or that Conte wasn’t a great manager. I’m not saying that. I don’t want the message to be misinterpreted. But if you broke the rules, then that’s it—you have to give the credit to another team. Perhaps, under the same rules, we could have signed players who would have made the team better or scored more goals.”
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(ITALPRESS).
