Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he will never manage Arsenal out of respect for his former club Tottenham.
The Chelsea boss makes his first return to Spurs on Monday night since leaving in 2019 when the Blues travel to face their Premier League rivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Pochettino looking forward to a "really special occasion".
It remains to be seen what kind of reception Pochettino, who was hugely popular during his five years in charge of Tottenham, gets now he is in the Chelsea dugout.
In his pre-match press conference, the Argentinian was keen to emphasise the respect he still has for Spurs and the bond he has with the club, something that would prevent him from ever taking a job on the other side of north London.
"If you remember I say clubs I'll never manage was Arsenal because I considered them the worst enemy of Tottenham and Barcelona because of Espanyol," Pochettino said.
"It's strange to come back because always the feeling after four years, it's going to be, for me, a happy day but that is life and we need to move on.
"We are professional but at the same time we are human."
Pochettino was linked with a return to Tottenham last season after Antonio Conte's acrimonious exit from the club, but he has now stated that was never a realistic possibility as he enjoyed time away from game following his departure from PSG.
The Blues boss explained: "No, after we finish our relationship with Paris Saint Germain, we wanted to be one year away from football and then arrived the offer from Chelsea."
