Brought in by Southampton from Alaves to replace Claude Puel last summer, there were high hopes that Mauricio Pellegrino would be the man to rekindle the Saints’ battles for Europa League football.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and his time in charge led Southampton towards the bottom of the Premier League, with the club just about escaping relegation to the Championship thanks to a 1-0 away win against Swansea.
Previously managing in Argentina before his spell in Spain and in England, the former centre-back is now without a club, and there’s a chance he could return to South America in the near future, this time in Chile.
According to La Tercera, the once Southampton manager is one of the candidates considered by Universidad de Chile, although there is an admission from within the club it could be a difficult deal to pull off.
The chairman, Carlos Heller, said: “The Pellegrino option, we’re talking with him. Maybe it’s a bit more distant, because he was managing in Europe and maybe his desire is to continue there, but I leave a door open to talk.”
It remains to be seen if anyone in Europe will want to hire the Argentinian manager, whose reputation took a bit of a drop due to his Southampton spell, but his success with Alaves might still be enough to attract some offers.
If not, perhaps a return to South America will be on the cards.
