Mauricio Pochettino 'meets with Barcelona chief' as club prepare to sack Quique Setien

Mauricio Pochettino reportedly had dinner with Barcelona chief Josep Maria Bartomeu earlier this week as the Catalan giants plot a move for the former Tottenham boss.

Quique Setien looks certain to lose his job after Barca were humbled 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Friday night.

And Pochettino is now the Blaugrana's No.1 target to replace Setien after meeting with Bartomeu, report RAC1.

The Argentine has been out of work since being sacked by Spurs in November, where he was replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Pochettino has been linked with a number of jobs but is yet to return to the dugout as he awaits the right opportunity.

The 48-year-old has previously distanced himself from the Nou Camp hotseat due to his connections with Catalan rivals Espanyol.

He both played for and managed Espanyol and once claimed he would 'rather work on a farm' than take charge of Barcelona.

But Pochettino might see the chance to manage one of the world's biggest clubs as too hard to resist after initially being sounded out for the role when Ernesto Valverde was sacked in January.

Pochettino reportedly has a good relationship with Bartomeu with the pair in 'regular contact'.

He backtracked on his comments regarding Barca in an interview with El Pais last month, saying: "Espanyol is where I made my name but I am not arrogant and I don't like having made a statement like that on.

"Perhaps now I would not have said that because in life you never know what will happen.

"I had seen Bartomeu in a cafe [in 2018] and we greeted each other and chatted for five minutes. That generated a rumour and I wanted to quash the rumour but I did not want to disrespect Barcelona."