Mauricio Pochettino demands Premier League strip club of title in extraordinary interview

Mauricio Pochettino has called for his former club Chelsea to be stripped of a Premier League title in a new bombshell interview.

Pochettino had one season in charge at Chelsea in the 2023/24 season, before he left via a mutual agreement following a sixth-placed finish.

But his best work in England came with Spurs, who he led to consecutive second-placed finishes in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns.

Spurs recorded 86 points but lost out to Antonio Conte Chelsea's, who recovered from a shaky start to win the title by seven points.

Mauricio Pochettino calls out Chelsea rule breaches in extraordinary interview

However, nearly a decade on and Pochettino has claimed he should be a Premier League champion as he spoke out about Chelsea being punished.

In March, Chelsea, having been charged by the Premier League for breaches of competition rules, were hit with a £10.75 million fine.

The fine would have been £20 million but was reduced by 50% because Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches of Football Association rules when they bought Chelsea in 2022.

A six points deduction was not applied upon appeal after Chelsea admitted to making £47 million in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties regarding transfers between 2011 and 2018.

Transfers involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic were in the Premier League's report and all four of those aforementioned players played in Chelsea's title triumph.

None of the players are implicated or accused of any wrongdoing.

Speaking to UK media outlets, including the BBC, Pochettino said: "We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it. "They were punished, they admitted, so that's it? The title should be for the team that was second.

"It's true that we didn't compete with the same rules. OK, now we can say that they scored goals, they won games, and like this. OK, that's it, but it's completely fair to say that we didn't compete before the start of the season with the same card.

"Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could've signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals. It's not me complaining. It's the truth. If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second best team.

"I'm not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I'm saying this, but if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules I'd admit the same."

How else were Chelsea punished for rule breaches?

On top of the reduced fine, Chelsea received two transfer bans. A one-year ban was suspended for two years, while there also a nine-month suspension on signing academy players imposed.

This punishment, which also carried a £750,000 fine, was in relation to the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022.

The Premier League acknowledged Chelsea's "exceptional cooperation" and "pro-active self-reporting".

Pochettino is currently managing of the United States national team and took charge at the World Cup on home soil in the summer.