Pochettino wants Chelsea to lose their 2016-17 Premier League title

Former Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino has asked for Chelsea to lose their 2016-17 Premier League title. He believes the title should go to Spurs instead.

That season, Pochettino's Tottenham finished second to Antonio Conte's Chelsea. They got a club record of 86 points but were seven points behind Chelsea, the champions.

According to BBC Sport on Thursday, Pochettino's comments come after Chelsea was fined £10.75 million by the Premier League. This fine was for past breaches involving undisclosed payments linked to player transfers and third parties. These issues happened from 2011 to 2018 and included players like Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic.

Pochettino, who later coached Chelsea in the 2023-24 season, feels that the punishment should have included taking away the title from Chelsea.

"We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it," he said.

He added, "If that [Chelsea’s rule-break] was true, then we deserve to be champions that year, for sure. They were punished, they admitted it? So that’s it. The title should be for the team that was second."

The Argentine said Tottenham did not compete on the same level as Chelsea.

"We didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card."

Pochettino suggested that if Tottenham had the same conditions, they could have improved their squad and chances of winning the league.

"Maybe with the same rules, we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals."

Chelsea’s breaches involved undisclosed payments and how some transfer deals were reported. The club reported the issues themselves after changing ownership in 2022 and worked with investigators. No points were taken away from Chelsea based on the Premier League’s findings.

Pochettino recognized that Chelsea was strong under Conte but insisted that rule-breaking should have an effect on the title race.

"I don’t say that Chelsea didn’t play well, that Conte was not great. I don’t say that. I don’t want the message to be twisted."

He continued, "But if you broke the rules, then ‘ciao’, you need to give it to another team. I don’t know why that didn’t happen."

Pochettino mentioned he would hold Tottenham to the same level if the situation was flipped.

"If we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I’d admit the same: ‘We don’t deserve the title because we broke the rules.’"

Tottenham’s 2016-17 season remains their best in the Premier League, with 26 wins, four losses, and 86 points. Chelsea claimed the title with 93 points after winning 30 games.

Despite Pochettino’s request, Chelsea is still officially recognized as the champions of the 2016-17 Premier League season, while Tottenham is noted as the runners-up.