Sampaoli asks for more time for his project in Argentina

Although they bowed out of the World Cup at the Round of 16, Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli has called for more time to put a long-term project in place.

In 2017, the former Sevilla boss signed a five-year deal with the Albiceleste.

However, his future at the helm has been called into question following a World Cup campaign in which side won just one of their four games.

After eight coaches in the past 12 years though, Sampaoli believes that a project for the future must now be put in place.

"If you believe in projects, you have to know that they require time and asking for a change of project is just changing once again," a source said of his future.

Sampaoli received a great deal of criticism in his homeland after Argentina's 4-3 defeat to France on Saturday.

His team didn't manage to get the best out of Lionel Messi, their star man, who was below his usual level in Russia.

Nor was he able to build a stable team with a strong identity, and has not repeated the same starting line-up in any of the 15 games he has overseen since taking charge in June 2017.

The termination of Sampaoli's contract would cost close to 15 million euros for the Argentine Football Association, as reported within the Argentine press.

At the moment, president Claudio Tapia has not made any indication either way as to what he plans to do, although the hefty termination clause could result in Sampaoli being given more time to put things right.