Tottenham sacked Thomas Frank in February after a miserable run of results left them close to the relegation zone, replacing him with interim boss Igor Tudor, who failed to win any of his five league matches in charge.
By the end of March, Spurs sat just one point above the bottom three and in serious danger of relegation for the first time in nearly 50 years. Tudor was relieved of his duties after only 44 days, leaving the club scrambling for a permanent solution before eventually agreeing a five-year deal with Roberto De Zerbi, who had initially been reluctant to take the job.
Before turning to De Zerbi, however, Tottenham approached Pochettino, whose name had been sung by supporters throughout Frank's struggling tenure in the hope he might abandon his commitments with the United States national team to save his former club.
That move never materialised, with Pochettino instead leading the USA to the last 16 of their home World Cup this summer, but he has now confirmed the approach did happen.
"The problem was that the timings were never the best," he said. "When I was free, I never received a contact. And then when I was working, I received a contact, but I cannot make the decision to come back.
"It was a little bit unlucky. Maybe one day the stars will align, and it can happen."
Pochettino, who led Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final and oversaw title challenges in 2016 and 2017 during his five years at the club, has been linked with a return on several occasions over the years, including during his time at Paris Saint-Germain and again in 2023 before he took the Chelsea job.
He was careful, though, to play down any sense that Tottenham's approach reflected special faith in him specifically, pointing instead to the club's desperation at the time.
"They were under pressure to bring another coach, to give him the possibility to stay for a long period like happened with De Zerbi. It was an obvious situation. In this moment, they called everyone, they called all the coaches. Free and not free," he said. "If I was free, of course I come. But I wasn't free, I was preparing for the World Cup."