Mauricio Pochettino to Real Madrid: Tottenham chief Daniel Levy won’t destroy his tough-guy image by letting boss leave

You're staying put: Mauricio Pochettino with chairman Daniel Levy
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I
Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP30 October 2018

Mauricio Pochettino has long been admired by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez but there is virtually no chance he would be able to prise him away from Tottenham in the middle of a season.

Perez is looking for another manager after sacking Julen Lopetegui following Real’s 5-1 humiliation by Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Sunday.

Santiago Solari, the former Real winger who has been coaching the club’s ‘B’ team, has been placed in charge for the time being. It is possible that Solari could earn himself the job full time, just as Zinedine Zidane did after replacing Rafael Benitez at a similar moment in the 2015/16 campaign, but the chances are that Perez will seek a proven candidate.

Perez has kept a close eye on Pochettino throughout his time in English football and watched Spurs dismantle Real at Wembley a year ago — one of the high points of the Argentine’s four-and-a-half-year reign.

Pochettino’s recent comments — that his mood has been worse than at any other time during his spell at Tottenham — will not have gone unnoticed in the Spanish capital. Pochettino is frustrated that the club’s 62,062-seat stadium is behind schedule, while the club did not make a single signing during the summer transfer window.

Yet the idea that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy would permit his departure at this stage seems absurd. Real were interested at the end of last season but Pochettino signed a new five-year deal in May, believed to be worth up to £8.5million per year.

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Pochettino is arguably the single most important figure at the club, too. Without his expert management, it is unlikely Spurs would have qualified for the Champions League for three consecutive seasons, despite spending less on transfers and wages than their main rivals.

Key players Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris and — just today — Dele Alli have chosen to sign new deals despite interest from elsewhere, partly because of Pochettino’s presence.

Levy has built a reputation as one of the toughest negotiators in world football — and he is unlikely to destroy it by letting his manager walk away in the middle of a season.

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