Mauricio Pochettino is one of the leading contenders to succeed Unai Emery at Arsenal.
However, it is highly unlikely the former Tottenham Hotspur manager will cross the north London divide given what he said in 2018.
Pochettino was sacked by Spurs after a dreadful run of form in 2019 and replaced by Jose Mourinho less than 24 hours later.
And Emery has suffered a similar fate with Arsenal giving the boss the boot.
On Friday morning, the Spaniard took training, but was informed his services were no longer required at around 9am.
A list of candidates to replace him quickly followed and saw Pochettino installed as one of the front runners for the job.
But Pochettino gave a defiant response when questioned about club rivalries in 2018.
He said: “I am never going to be manager of Barcelona or Arsenal because I am so identified with Tottenham and Espanyol.
“I grew up in Newell’s Old Boys and will never manage Rosario Central [in Argentina].
“That is my decision because I prefer to work on my farm in Argentina than in some places.
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“But my commitment is massive in this club. I am working like I am going to be here forever.
“But in the end, it is like the players, you never know what is going to happen in football. It is a lot of rumours about this, about that.”
