Pochettino: Spurs Should Be Given 2016-17 Premier League Title

Pochettino demands Spurs be handed 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea breaches

Mauricio Pochettino has called for Tottenham Hotspur to be awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title, claiming Chelsea should be stripped of the crown after the club admitted historical rule breaches. The former Spurs manager insists his side, who finished second, were denied a level playing field during that campaign.

Who: Mauricio Pochettino, former Tottenham Hotspur manager
What: Says Spurs should be given the 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea's breaches
Chelsea punishment: Fined £10.75m in March; six-point deduction set aside on appeal
Breaches: £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties between 2011 and 2018
League gap: Chelsea finished seven points clear of Spurs in 2016-17
Pochettino's take: "The title should be for the team that was second"

What was said

"We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it."
— Mauricio Pochettino, former Tottenham manager

"[Chelsea] were punished, they admitted, so that's it? The title should be for the team that was second."
— Pochettino on why Spurs deserve the 2016-17 crown

"It's true that we didn't compete with the same rules. It's completely fair to say that we didn't compete before the start of the season with the same card."
— Pochettino on the uneven playing field

"Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could've signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals."
— Pochettino reflecting on his Tottenham squad

"It's not me complaining. It's the truth. If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team."
— Pochettino on his motivation

"I'm not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I'm saying this, but if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules I'd admit the same."
— Pochettino on his consistency

Pochettino's comments are the strongest yet from a former rival manager on the fallout of Chelsea's historical breaches. He is not calling for a replay or a points adjustment in the current season, but for a retrospective title change. The argument rests on the fact that Chelsea self-reported 74 breaches of Football Association rules when Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club in 2022. Those breaches involved £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018. Chelsea were fined £10.75m in March, and a six-point deduction was set aside on appeal. Pochettino's logic is simple: if the rules were broken during the 2016-17 season, the competition was not fair, and the team that finished second should be elevated.

The numbers

£10.75m: fine handed to Chelsea in March for historical breaches
£47m: secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties between 2011 and 2018
74: breaches of FA rules self-reported by Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital
7 points: the gap between champions Chelsea and runners-up Spurs in 2016-17
6 points: deduction set aside on appeal
5 years: Pochettino's tenure as Tottenham manager (2014–2019)

Why Pochettino's claim is more than a soundbite

Pochettino is not simply relitigating an old race. He is pointing to a structural inequality. Chelsea's £47m in secret payments between 2011 and 2018 allegedly allowed them to sign players and pay agents outside the recognised rules. During that same period, Pochettino's Tottenham were operating under strict financial constraints, funding a new stadium and adhering to a self-sustaining model. He suggests that with the same financial freedom, he could have signed better players and scored more goals. That argument is impossible to prove, but it is grounded in the fact that Chelsea have admitted wrongdoing. The £10.75m fine and the set-aside points deduction show the Premier League found the breaches serious, even if the sanctions did not alter historical results.

The key weakness in Pochettino's position is that stripping a title years after the fact is unprecedented in the Premier League era. Chelsea's breaches were self-reported by new owners, not discovered through an investigation into the 2016-17 season specifically. The six-point deduction being set aside on appeal suggests the independent panel did not consider the breaches to have directly affected a single campaign. Pochettino's call is therefore more about recognition than regulation. He wants the record books to reflect what he sees as an asterisk against Chelsea's title.

Tactically, Pochettino's Spurs were a relentless pressing side that pushed Chelsea all the way. They finished seven points behind, but the gap might have been narrower with different rules. Pochettino's current role as USA coach gives him a platform to speak freely, and he has used it. He later managed Chelsea in the 2023-24 season, which adds another layer to his comments. His willingness to criticise a former employer shows he is not driven by club loyalty but by a sense of fairness. Whether the Premier League agrees is another matter.

Talking points

Should Chelsea be stripped of the 2016-17 title, or is a fine and set-aside points deduction sufficient punishment for historical breaches?
Pochettino says Spurs could have signed better players under the same rules — but is that a legitimate excuse for finishing seven points behind?
Chelsea self-reported 74 breaches, yet the six-point deduction was set aside on appeal. Does that suggest the sanctions were too lenient?
If titles can be reassigned years later, where does it end? Should every club found guilty of historical breaches lose their honours?

What happens next

The Premier League has not indicated it will review historical title outcomes, and Chelsea's six-point deduction remains set aside after a successful appeal. Pochettino's comments will likely reignite debate among fans and pundits, but there is no formal process to award Spurs the 2016-17 title. Tottenham's focus remains on the current season, while Chelsea continue to operate under the cloud of the £10.75m fine. The next move, if any, would have to come from the league itself. For now, Pochettino has made his position clear: he believes Tottenham were the rightful champions.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Pochettino think Spurs should be awarded the 2016-17 title?

He believes Chelsea broke the rules by making £47m in secret payments and that the competition was not fair, so the team that finished second should be given the title.