Report: PSG May Sack Unai Emery; Mauricio Pochettino Among Rumoured Candidates

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly considering sacking Unai Emery before the end of the season following their UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid, with Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino taking the top spot on their shortlist of possible replacements.

RMC Sport reported the news on Wednesday, and ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson highlighted the top takeaways from the report:

Get French Football News elaborated on the report, adding former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique to the list of candidates. The Spaniard is said to be in talks with Chelsea and would be a secondary option.

Another name on the list is Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, but his capture would be highly unlikely. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss is with Manchester City, racking up one win after the other in the Premier League. 

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte and former Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti round out the list, which notably didn't include Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone. The Argentinian was previously linked with Les Parisiens, per the report.

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Emery's sacking has seemed almost inevitable for some time now, with the main question being when the club would part with the tactician. Reports of his clashes with star forward Neymar have been frequent and started as early as November, per Le Parisien (h/t Sport).

PSG's main objective is to find success in Europe, where the Ligue 1 giants have fallen well short of expectations year after year. Their exit at the hands of Real on Tuesday marked the second straight edition of the Champions League in which Les Parisiens failed to progress past the round of 16.

Football writer Brooks Peck and former United States international Jimmy Conrad drew their conclusions after the 2-1 loss in Paris:

In Ligue 1, PSG hold a massive 14-point lead over AS Monaco, and another title seems all but assured. The club could afford to sack Emery, even if the transition would result in a loss of momentum domestically.

Alternatively, Les Parisiens could wait until summer. Pochettino is in the midst of a solid campaign with Spurs and will certainly not move until the end of the season, so there is no rush to get Emery out of the door if the former Argentina international is their priority.