Aston Villa will move to appoint former Tottenham and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino if Steven Gerrard can’t turn around the Birmingham club’s flagging form, say reports.
Gerrard has come under pressure at Villa Park after picking up nine points from the first 10 games of the Premier League season.
Villa now sit one point above the relegation zone, and matches against Fulham and Brentford in the next few days could decide the manager’s fate.
According to The Telegraph, Pochettino is the favoured candidate to succeed Gerrard if Villa decide to sack the former Liverpool midfielder.
Pochettino has been without a club since being departing PSG in the summer.
But it would be an ambitious move from Villa, who would need to convince an elite coach accustomed to competing in the Champions League to take on their project.
The newspaper adds that the Birmingham side will be willing to wait for Poch if he shows interest, but doesn’t want to jump in straight away.
Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked by Chelsea last month, and Villarreal boss Unai Emery are also among the big-name targets Villa are looking at.
Gerrard was brought in last November to replace Dean Smith, and led his side to a 14th-place finish.
But Villa have won just two Premier League games this season, and a promising four-match unbeaten run was ended in a 2-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Sunday.
