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Mauricio Pochettino arrived in England when he was appointed as Southampton manager in January 2013, just months after his sacking at Espanyol.

In his first summer transfer window with the Saints, one of the players he signed was Dani Osvaldo, who spent two seasons under his guidance with the Spanish outfit.

The striker struggled during his time in England and after six months he had loan spells at Juventus, Inter Milan and Boca Juniros, before being released in 2015.

He retired from football a year later in order to focus on his music career and the former Premier League player sat down for an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, in which he was asked if he got along with his coaches at various clubs.

The 32-year-old was in full praise of the current Tottenham Hotspur coach, but stressed his then manager at the Turin club was the best so far.

“Many [understood], as at the time, Pochettino at Espanyol. In Southampton, no, maybe he changed because I was still the same person. I made an error, yes, but as in Espanyol. There [Southampton] I thought that people do not always love you, but that they need you,” the Italian told Marca.

“But, Mauricio was one of the best technicians, he was like a real father to me, that’s why I left Rome to go to Southampton. Antonio Conte was the best I had. He was always right! It seemed that he saw everything before.”