Ten years have passed since Mauricio Pochettino shared a £114 bottle of Brunello di Montalcino with Sir Alex Ferguson at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, but the conversation may yet prove to be prophetic.

Ferguson and Pochettino drew similarities between the jobs they took on at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur over their red wine of choice in 2016.

United are back to where Ferguson found them, having made their worst start to a season since 1986, when the Scotsman replaced Ron Atkinson. Pochettino is now a front-runner to try to revive the Old Trafford club.

Pochettino has potentially been a United manager in the making for the 10 years since that lunch, having been among Ferguson’s picks to succeed Louis van Gaal. Now – more than ever – the Argentine’s skillset suits the long and painful rebuild that is needed.

In his book, Brave New World, Pochettino wrote: “[Ferguson] spoke to me about how he had to restructure everything when he arrived at United.

“He did so in keeping with his own philosophy, even though they finished 11th two years out of three, followed by 13th, sixth, second and only after that did he achieve league success.

“His Manchester United side were like the Tottenham team that I inherited when I took over and the chat reassured me about following my own path.”

That path has taken Pochettino to Paris St-Germain, Chelsea and the United States, since his lunch date with Ferguson. But Manchester has remained a destination of interest to the 54-year-old and his staff.

It was a few days before his United States team beat Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach the last 16 of the World Cup that Pochettino held court in the late evening sunshine at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, off California’s Pacific coast.

The interview was almost over when the conversation turned to United and Pochettino cast a glance at Jesús Pérez, his long-standing assistant, sitting next to him. “One day, your dream comes true!” Pochettino told Pérez. “You go to Manchester United!”

Pérez has long held an affection for all things Manchester. Pochettino disclosed how, on days off when living in London, his sidekick would travel north to visit the city and was particularly fond of the National Football Museum there.

“United should have got you!” a smiling Pérez said in response. “Future! Future!” Pochettino playfully shot back.

Pochettino is a builder, someone whose influence can be found in all areas of the club or national team he is employed by. Those who follow him are empowered and his track record of improving players includes Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and, at Chelsea, Cole Palmer.

Tottenham had finished sixth in the season before Pochettino’s arrival in 2014. But he inherited a problematic dressing room, with issues around senior players such as Emmanuel Adebayor and Younes Kaboul, and a club culture that needed resetting.

Players were instructed to shake hands in the club canteen before training – with each other and also with Daniel Levy. On a staff-bonding trip to Argentina, Pochettino insisted that Levy join him in a white-water raft, which ended with him having to fish the chairman out of the Manso River.

Preparations for Tottenham’s 2019 Champions League final involved players following Pochettino over hot coals and snapping arrows against their throats.

Lemons, which became part of the Manchester music scene through the Stone Roses, are kept in a tray in his office to absorb negative energy. Pochettino also believes he has an ability to see an aura around people.

Under Pochettino, Spurs finished fifth, third, second, third and fourth. He kept the club competitive through a stadium move before he was sacked in November 2019, six months after the club’s Champions League final defeat to Liverpool. As recently as last season, Spurs fans were still singing his name.

That association with Tottenham means Pochettino is not so fondly remembered by Chelsea supporters, but the job he did at Stamford Bridge also bears relevance to challenges United face.

Chelsea had finished 12th – the club’s lowest final league position for more than 25 years – when Pochettino began the job amid a revolving door of players signed and sold by an ownership yet to find their feet in English football.

Pochettino once again set about building a culture. He made Nicolas Jackson run laps of the training pitch for serving a one-match suspension after being shown five yellow cards in his first six league appearances.

“I was dead that day, I think that was my punishment,” Jackson told Telegraph Sport. “They just called me out to run. I said ‘why, what happened’, but I just had to run. It was laps, really hard, the intensity, then I was lying down when I finished. I think it was that.”

Jackson finished that season with 17 goals and, when Pochettino left Chelsea at the end of it, the striker posted an emotional message on social media that read: “Love you coach. Wish we could stay together more but may God continue to bless you and your family. Thanks for the advice and support. You’re a true lion and a fighter. Wish you all the best.”

Palmer publicly thanked Pochettino for making his “dreams come true”, having scored 22 goals and registered 11 assists under him. Chelsea recovered from a slow start to finish sixth at the end of Pochettino’s sole season in charge, during which they also reached the final of the League Cup, losing to Liverpool, and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, which they lost to Manchester City.

It is not just his players and backroom staff who Pochettino values, as proven by his last public act as Chelsea head coach. Despite knowing that the final game of the 2023-24 season – a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth – would most likely be his last in charge, Pochettino still extended his post-match duties to pay tribute to the club’s beloved Brian Pullman, the press steward, before his retirement.

In 2016, Pochettino won an argument with Ferguson about who would pay the bill for their red wine and food at Scott’s by correctly naming Guillermo Stábile as an Argentine player who scored in the 1930 World Cup final. It was money well spent, just as it would be for United to activate the £7.5m release clause in Pochettino’s US contract and finally take him to Manchester.