New Delhi, India

Former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) manager Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by the French club earlier this summer after failing to deliver the Champions League title. PSG have dominated Ligue 1 over the years but have failed to win the coveted Champions League trophy despite attracting some of the best players to the club in the last few years.

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After Lionel Messi's arrival at PSG last summer, the expectations were high from Pochettino, who had the trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi and the club to challenge for the Champions League. However, the club failed to make it to the final eventually leading to the Argentine manager getting sacked earlier this year.

At the time of Pochettino's sacking, there were reports that Mbappe, who signed a three-year contract extension at PSG after snubbing Real Madrid, wanted the manager to be gone. There were also rumours that Mbappe will have a larger say in PSG's sporting project after signing a contract extension at the club.

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However, Pochettino has denied the rumours that Mbappe had ny role to play in his sacking and said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is responsible for the major decisions at the club, felt a new sporting project was needed at PSG.

"What I think is that PSG has done everything possible to retain Kylian and I also agree with that. He is one of the best players in world football today and I think that PSG, having all the resources to do it, have convinced him to stay. But I don't think Kylian is the one who designed the new project either (that saw me leave)," Pochettino told Argentinian news outlet Infobae.

"Those who rule, in this case the president, are those who would have thought that the most convenient thing was a new project in the club," he added.

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Pochettino, who has so far managed clubs like Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and PSG in his managerial career, also opened up about working with Messi for the first time in his career. Messi left Barcelona in an unexpected turn of events last year to join PSG as a free agent. Pochettino labelled Messi the best in the world and suggested that Mbappe could be a potential successor to his throne in the future.

"For me, Leo Messi is the best in the world. There is no doubt," said Pochettino. "Afterwards it is clear that Mbappe is a candidate to be able to receive that crown. There is Neymar, who for me is also one of the best players in the world," he added.