MAURICIO POCHETTINO has admitted that Tottenham will always be ‘my club’ despite continued links with Manchester United.
The Paris Saint-Germain manager, 50, is currently preparing for his side’s Champions League last-16 second leg at Real Madrid tonight.
It is a competition that he came close to winning during his memorable five-year spell at Spurs when they suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Liverpool in the 2019 final.
Despite that, he was still axed the following November.
However, recent reports claim a return to the North London club is his preferred option,
That comes amid speculation that United want him to be their next permanent manager once interim boss Ralf Rangnick moves upstairs and talks between the camps have already started.
Old Trafford legend Rio Ferdinand headed to France to meet Poch before the Madrid clash for his latest ‘Between The Lines’ episode.
And the Argentinian admitted that the ‘the Premier League is the best league in the world’ as he reflected on his time at Spurs.
Pochettino then said: “For me, it was an amazing journey, amazing time. I still feel that it’s my club, my place.
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“I think when you really feel with the commitment and when you feel the people give everything to try to be successful, and they treat you really, really good how they treat us, it’s impossible to forget that.
“That is why I think Tottenham is always going to be a special club for me.
“The way we started to play after a few years and the way the players stuck with the idea and respected the principle of the history of Tottenham – the fan base – I think was amazing.”
Poch also provided an insight into how he approaches a new job – which could make interesting reading for United supporters.
He explained: “Always for me it’s about when you arrive at a new club, it’s always about agreeing things and try to decide the best strategy to arrive where you want.
“But always building with knowing the culture of the club, knowing how the fans love football, the history of the club to be how they are. This is all really important.
“Of course it’s important to translate your ideas and stick with your ideas and to try to implement your ideas, but as a coaching staff to arrive at a club like Tottenham, respecting always the history of the club, respecting the taste of the fans and the culture.
“That, I think for me is the most important thing to start to build what you want.
“After, you can change small things to feel you are part of the history and philosophy, but for me, the most important thing is to design an expectation and philosophy together when you arrive rather than try to arrive and to change everything and say, ‘this is the main idea and if you don’t stick with this it’s impossible to win’.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
