Atletico Madrid keen on ex-Tottenham manager Pochettino

Atletico Madrid are keen to appoint former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino if Diego Simeone leaves at the end of the season, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Simeone's position at Atletico is under serious threat for the first time in his nine-year stint as manager of the Spanish giants.

Despite spending more than £200m on new players in the summer, Atletico languish down in sixth place in the table and 13 points off leaders Real Madrid following derby defeat at the weekend.

Simeone only signed a new long-term deal with Atletico 12 months ago to end speculation about his future but now there is a chance he could leave this summer.

Atletico have already earmarked Pochettino as a potential replacement for Simeone but the 47-year-old's preference is to return to the Premier League.

Tottenham sacked Pochettino in November after five years in charge of the north London outfit and he remains heavily linked with the Manchester United hot seat.

Despite the fact United's hierarchy have the full backing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Pochettino's name is always mentioned when the club suffer a set-back.

Pochettino finished his time in charge of Tottenham with a win ratio of 54.6% but failed to win a single trophy in that period.

The Argentine head coach has previously faced Atletico on 10 occasions as a manager and finished on the losing side in  half of those matches.